A minibus driver has been commended for ferrying his passengers to safety after being shot at by highway robbers in Maharashtra on March 10.
Mr Khomdev Kawade was driving his bus with 17 passengers along a highway from the city of Amravati to Nagpur after they had visited a temple.
The 42-year-old noticed that a car “kept following us”, the NDTV news channel quoted him as saying. Thinking the vehicle wanted to overtake his bus, he twice made room for it to do so.
But he said the people – allegedly robbers -– in the sport utility vehicle with an Uttar Pradesh licence plate overtook the bus and tried to stop it by firing four rounds.
Mr Kawade dodged most of the bullets aimed at him. But one lodged in his hand.
The incident happened near Nandgaon Peth.
“I gave them the space to go ahead twice, but they did not overtake,” he said.
“After some time, they fired at me. The first time, they missed, but the second time it hit my hand.”
A car chase ensued, according to The Times of India.
Despite excruciating pain and profuse bleeding, Mr Kawade did not lose control of the bus. He finally trundled into Teosa police station, 30km away, exhausted.
He and three other passengers who were injured in the incident were taken to a hospital in Teosa.
“The heroic driver ensured all pilgrims were safe,” The Times of India quoted a police officer as saying.
Police said a hunt is on for four people believed to have been in the car that shot at the bus.
CCTV footage showed the getaway vehicle moving towards Nagpur city, but then taking the Kamptee-Kanhan route from Gondkheri toll point towards Jabalpur highway.
They believe the highway gang had stolen the vehicle with a UP registration number from Nashik a few days earlier.
On March 13, following yet another highway robbery, Maharashtra Police arrested two men who stole Rs93 lakh ($133,000) from the owner of a Goa-based bus company who was travelling from Mumbai to Goa on a bus.
The incident happened on Feb 22 at Bopegaon in Satara district.
The police said that, when the bus stopped at a hotel in Bopegaon, Hassan Jumman Mohamad, 22, and Imtiyaq Jaan Mohamad, 21, both from Uttar Pradesh, stole a bag containing Rs93 lakh from the bus company owner.
The victim alleged that the bus conductor helped the two men, who ran away.
After checking CCTV footage, a police team arrested Hassan and Imtiyaq from Bhavanigad in Sangameshwar district, near Sangameshwar town on the Mumbai-Goa old highway.
They recovered Rs83 lakh from the duo. The bus conductor is still at large.
Indo-Asian News Service
