Brave heart Rickshaw Puller Chased Attackers; threw stones at them

We Salute the Brave heart rickshaw Puller who Show the Spirit of the Country

Salim, a 26-year-old rickshaw-puller, didn’t cower in fear when he saw the two assailants open fire. He picked up a stone and hurled them at the attackers, turning into an unlikely hero.

He was dropping a passenger at Gate No. 3 when he noticed the two gunmen opening fire on the tourist bus. Seeing Salim charging towards them, the two men panicked and dropped a magazine at the spot. He was also the one who alerted the cops nearby after which the police started chasing them. One of the constables, Pramod, posted at the gate, tried to chase the men.

Both Pramod and Salim have given investigators leads on which the probe will progress. Pramod said the two men were wearing helmets and the pillion rider was armed. Salim, meanwhile, told a famous English Daily that ‘‘one man had the bike’s engine running while the pillion rider had just finished firing the shots. He tried threatening me with the gun, but when he saw that I had a stone in hand, he panicked and dropped several live cartridges on the ground. Before I could reach them, they zoomed off.’’

‘‘I was talking to a customer when I heard the shots and saw the men escaping. My father, who was sitting nearby, told me these were gunshots and that’s why I ran to see what had happened. The men were on the bike and disappeared in a matter of seconds,’’ said B K Srivastav, who owns a shop near Gate No.3.

Other eyewitnesses said a policeman tried to follow the assailants on foot but bent down to pick up the live cartridges instead. Some other policemen reportedly followed the attackers but eventually lost the trail. The eyewitnesses also claimed that the attackers fired a shot in the air near Gate No.5 to get away without any hassle. ‘‘I saw the men zooming past my shop. They were on a Passion Plus bike and the pillion rider was wearing a green shirt while the rider was wearing black. They appeared clean shaven and were quite tall and well-built,’’ said Imran, who owns a shop near Gate No. 5.

‘I heard the shots and at first thought they were Chinese crackers that can be found in the market. It was only later that we realized what had happened,’’ said Abdul Qavi, who lives near Gate No. 5.