In pics: How Noida resident survived attack by laptop thieves

After being shot at, the victim, Rakesh Awasthi (40), who is a resident of Sector 36, hit the bike of the attackers following which one of them fell from the bike and was caught by the public, police said.

Even with a loaded pistol in hand, Pankaj Kumar discovered he had nowhere to run as a crowd swarmed around him and the car, whose lone occupant he had just shot.

After being shot at, the victim, Rakesh Awasthi, hit the bike of the attackers following which one of them fell from the bike and was caught by the public. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Photo)

Though he was bleeding from his abdomen, Rakesh Awasthi, business head of a private firm, had managed to trap the 22-year-old and his motorcycle between his Honda Mobilio and a road divider.

Kumar and an accomplice had stopped next to Awasthi’s car at a Noida traffic signal around noon and grabbed a laptop lying on the front seat through an open window.

They tried to drive away, but the 35-year-old employee of Ozone Overseas Private Limited was able to corner them.

While his aide escaped, Kumar shot Awasthi once but failed to get away as he was hemmed in by dozens of passers-by.

The victim was rushed to Kailash Hospital.

“The victim was shot in the abdomen. He was rushed to Kailash Hospital and is out of danger,” said Kiran Sivakumar, the area’s senior superintendent of police.

The victim received a gunshot wound in his torso.

One of the attackers who fell from the bike.

The attacker nabbed by passersby after the crime.

Officials said they seized a TVS Apache motorcycle from the accused as well as a pistol, which he had acquired illegally.

“The patient is conscious,” said Dr AK Jain of Kailash Hospital. “ We will perform surgery after the bullet is located.”

Awasthi, a resident of Noida’s sector-36, was driving to his office in Delhi’s Kirti Nagar.

The passersby handed over the attacker to the police.

“The attacker is being interrogated,” said Kiran Sivakumar, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar.

The incident occurred in Sector 15, Noida.

The TVS Apache which was recovered from the spot.

(The earlier report had erroneously mentioned Awasthi is an architect. He works as business head at a company dealing in ceramics)