An alert minibus driver saved 35 passengers from being robbed in Nagpur on Sunday night, March 10. Khomdev Kawade drove the bus for 30km with a bullet stuck in his arm to avoid decoys.
Kawade was driving passengers from Shegaon in Buldhana district to Nagpur when a car-borne gang chased the bus on the Amravati-Nagpur highway. The gangsters fired four rounds at the windscreen in an attempt to stop the minibus, and the bullets narrowly missed the driver, Kawade, except for one which lodged in his hand.
Despite bleeding and in pain, he did not lose control, dodged the bullets, and swerved past the hijackers at Sawadi village, 100km from Nagpur, finally arriving at Teosa police station, reported The Times of India.
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"The heroic driver ensured all pilgrims were safe," a police officer told the newspaper. Kawade had stopped briefly at Ambe Mata temple in Amravati before resuming the journey to Nagpur. Shortly after crossing Nandgaonpeth toll naka, Kawade noticed he was being followed. Initially, he tried to allow the vehicle to overtake before bullets were fired.
However, Amravati police later escorted the bus back to Nandgaonpeth police station. Kawade was rushed to a primary health centre. The highway gang had stolen a vehicle with a UP registration number from Nashik a few days ago, and a theft FIR was also registered.