Mumbai:
A man travelled from Gujarat to Mumbai to avenge a 13-year-old insult at the hands of his employer. He shot his employer and as the public chased him, he started running for his life.
Fear of being lynched by the mob was such that he preferred to run into the safe arms of cops at a police station.
43-year-old Himmat Makwana boarded a train from Gujarat, armed with a katta, to take revenge on his ex-employer Govind Tank (45). He went to Tank's workshop on Monday and fired a bullet in his stomach.
The sound alerted the public nearby and they started chasing Makwana. He started running to save himself from the crowd and ran straight into the Kurar police station, according to Senior Inspector Mohan Sankhe.
Inside the station, an alert policeman who spotted the weapon in Makwana's hand swooped down on him and arrested him.
The police said that the incident occurred at 8.30 am when Tank stepped out of his workshop to buy flowers for a small puja.
"Just when he opened the door, Makwana pressed the weapon on his stomach and shot a bullet," said Vallabh Tank, the victim's elder brother.
Tank was rushed to Sanjeevani Hospital where a team of doctors operated upon him and removed the bullet. The doctors have declared his condition to be stable.
According to Kurar police, Makwana used to work for Tank who owns a diamond-polishing workshop in Kurar since 1997. One day, Tank saw Makwana trying to flick a few diamonds and the duo engaged in a brawl.
The next day, the Dindoshi police registered a cross-complaint of non-cognisable offence. Tank sacked Makwana from the job following which Makwana shifted base to Gujarat.
"Makwana seemed to have been harbouring enmity against Tank for 13 years. He decided to avenge his insult," said Sankhe.
The Kurar police have arrested Makwana and will produce him in Borivli court for police remand today. He has been booked for illegal possession of a weapon and attempt to murder.
The police will also send him for a medical examination to ascertain if he is of sound mind.