Landi Kotal (Pakistan): There are so many strange and bizarre things in the world. Ever heard of life imprisonment? In India, the life sentence term is for 14 years. In some rare cases the court could sentence a convict for life, which means the rest of the lifetime is spent behind the bars. But a banyan tree in Pakistan, fettered in chains, beats all those lists of bizarre news that you read every day. The story behind the jailed tree is hilarious and ridiculous.

A Banyan tree in Pakistan’s Khyber Agency, located in Landi Kotal army cantonment area, was arrested in 1898 for allegedly attempting to attack a British official.

During the days of the British Empire in Indian subcontinent, a drunk British army officer named James Squid saw an old banyan tree and thought that it was coming towards him. The officer felt threatened by the tree and asked a mess sergeant to arrest it. The sergeant carried out the orders and chained the tree.

Many locals feel that keeping it on chains is an injustice, others feel that a chained tree could be the best way to highlight the legacy of the British Raj.

The tree stands in chains, even to this day with a sign “I am under arrest” placed on it.