Tired of the antics of a drama king — a history-sheeter — who deployed histrionics to escape severe punishment every time he was arrested, the Samarth police station (PS) cops decided to give him an experience of a lifetime, by spending time in a ward for the mentally challenged — and it worked.Within 24 hours of being there, the criminal shed his hysteria and begged to be let off, admitting that he was using his outbursts as a ploy to ward off police custody.Firoz Maqbul Khan alias Babali, a 46-year-old resident of Nana Peth, has 49 cases registered against for physical violence and property offences. He has been booked under sections 392 (robbery) and 506(2) (intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as under the Arms Act. On the night of June 8 this year, he beat up the owner of a cigarette vending kiosk when he was denied a free smoke. He also made away with Rs 3,640. The kiosk owner, Arif Ramzan Tamboli, lodged a complaint the next day, based on which crime branch picked up Khan from his home around 10.30 pm on June 14.Predictably, his theatrics were unleashed as soon as he was brought to the police station. Cops then chose to park him in the lock-up at Lashkar PS. But his tantrums proved too much for police there. Soon, the folks at Samarth PS were summoned to take away their prisoner.At 1.30 am on June 15, Khan was shifted to Sassoon General Hospitals. Here as well, he kept up his act and the doctors, along with the cops, decided to admit him in Ward 26, meant for the mentally challenged, which happened at 3.30 am. While Khan persevered with his deranged behaviour, it soon dawned on him where he was, as other inmates started approaching him for unsolicited chats and hugs.Within 24 hours, the man calmed down, according to the cops. He even refused to consume the food served, fearing it to be spiked with medications that could actually impact his mental balance. He quickly changed his tact, trying to establish his sanity with the doctors and the investigating officer (IO) who called on him. He started begging to be taken out of the ward. He admitted he was petrified that soon, he would be packed off to Yerwada Mental Hospital.The doctors let him stew for three days, while they observed him. “Whenever such a case is brought to us, we do a full clinical examination, observing the individual without administering any treatment, until we are able to draw a definite conclusion about their mental health and write our report accordingly. We cannot be influenced by what cops or the culprit try to impress upon us,” explained Dr Ajay Taware, medical superintendent of BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital.On June 18, Khan was produced in court, where his sanity was certified by the Sassoon doctors, and he was remanded in two days of police custody. The police had managed to beat him at his game. “Each time he was arrested earlier, he would do things like placing a blade in his mouth or nicking himself or threatening to jump through the window. Looking at his behaviour, the court would invariably empathise with his situation and pass a lenient sentence in his favour. This had to stop. So we decided to deal with him differently this time. We let him play out his dramatics, that earned him a place in the mental ward,” pointed out police sub-inspector Prabhakar Kapure, who is the IO in the case.