Law and order: Man held for train toilet lock-in, shooting

Says he had locked himself to avoid harassment by some passengers, fired only to attract law enforcement.

KHAIRPUR:

A man was arrested from a train at Khanpur Railway Station for shooting at other passengers and police officials who tried to persuade him to get out of a toilet.

The police was called after the man, identified as Khalid Bugti, refused to come out and shot at the door whenever someone tried to open it. He had locked himself in the toilet of Bogey No3 of Zakariya Express for several hours “to avoid some passengers who were making fun of him for his shabby clothes,” he told the police. Bugti said he belonged to Masori Bugti tribe of Balochistan but was employed and staying at Nadeem Arain’s farm in Multan as a watchman for almost seven years at a salary of Rs4,000 a month.

He was returning to Multan from Karachi on board Zakariya Express. Bugti said he had gone to Karachi to look for a better job. “I decided to return to Multan because I could not find a place to stay in Karachi,” he said.

He said he had locked himself in the toilet near Rahim Yar Khan. “I wanted to be alone for the rest of the journey. There was no other place I could find to hide. So I locked myself in the toilet to avoid interaction with other passengers,” he told the police. He said he had migrated from Dera Bugti, Balochistan, to avoid with his tribal rivals.

About shooting at the door, he said he had fired only to attract the law enforcement officials’ attention towards the train so that they could intervene and protect him from the passengers harassing him.

Khanpur station master Ramazan Rahi told The Express Tribune that he had rushed to the train on hearing several gunshots.

He said the man had refused to listen to anyone and fired every time someone approached the toilet to persuade him to come out.

Rahi later called deputy superintendent of City Division police Khalid Masood Bhatti who along with Elite Force officials – Yasin Ghauri, Jam Khalil and Tariq – broke the door and arrested Bugti. They also seized the pistol he had used and later found out that it was licensed in his name. Police said a case had been registered against the man in Raiwlay police station. They said they were still questioning him to determine if he had links with some terrorist organisations.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th,  2011.