Going up in smoke: Man detained for lighting up, getting physical

A man has been detained after beating up another man who advised him not to smoke when both were waiting in line at a bus stop in suburban Baoshan District, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place at 7:50pm on August 19 at the terminal station of Baoshan No. 3 bus near Gongfu Xincun Metro station.

The injured victim, surnamed Wang, asked Xu not to to light up as they stood in the queue. But when Xu refused, Wang called police by dialling 110.

As Xu tried to leave, Wang caught hold of him. At this point, Xu turned violent, hitting Wang in the eyes and pushing him to the ground, according to the footage of a surveillance camera, which caught all the action.

Police soon arrived on the scene and took the two away for investigation.

Wang has a wound around his left eye and his eyesight is affected, police said.

Xu claimed that he believed he was not violating any no smoking rules because there was no roof overhead to where the queue extended, according to the police.

In fact, Shanghai’s latest smoking ban, which took effect on March 1, 2017, bans smoking in “the waiting area of public transportation tools where there is a gathering of people,” and violators of the ban shall be fined 50 yuan (US$7) to 200 yuan.