‘I conquered fear to save lives’

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January 25, 2012 can never be erased from my memory. That day, Pune woke up to one of the most horrifying and shocking road rage incidents in the country’s history. A deranged ST bus driver went berserk, mercilessly mowing down people. Every time I think of it, a chill runs down my spine. I wish what I witnessed had never occurred in the first place. The only consolation is that I and a few others managed to stop the mass murderer, before he crushed many more under his wheels.

It all started at around 8 in the morning. I was heading to college on my motorcycle, and had just passed the Burger King outlet in Pulgate, Pune, when suddenly, out of the blue, an ST bus hurtled down the road and crashed into a young woman. There was mass uproar and pedestrians started running in his direction. We all thought that the driver would stop, but surprisingly, he didn’t. Instead, in the same maddening speed, the driver rammed into another car that came in his way, before knocking down one more. He also dashed into the two-wheeler of my friend, who was riding some distance ahead of me. The impact threw him off his motorcycle and he sustained severe injuries to his head.
Initially, we thought that the brakes of the bus had failed, and that the driver was helplessly trying to steer it away from the traffic. But we soon realised that he was doing it intentionally.
I saw a man being dragged for at least 500 metres. Body parts were strewn all around and the road was literally washed in blood. The scene was gory. A mad man was on a barbaric killing spree, and all we could do was watch helplessly, to avoid him from coming in our direction.
Somehow, I couldn’t watch him continue and decided to follow him on my two-wheeler instead. At that time, I wasn’t thinking of anything; my only intention was to stop that man.
Chasing the bus — travelling at a speed of 80 to 90 kmph — was a daunting task and that too, when it was trying to enter the wrong side of the road. I overtook the bus on four to five occasions, but the driver was furious. I tried waving at him, but to no avail. Even the police, which was firing in his direction, could not stop him.
We tried to alert as many pedestrians as we could, because most of them were unaware of the danger coming their way.
At one point, I almost cheated death. I was trying to warn three girls from crossing the road, when the driver tried hitting my motorcycle. Fortunate-ly, I was saved by a hair’s breadth. I regained my composure, conquered my fear and started to follow him again.
Throughout the pursuit, I was looking for that one good opportunity to overpower the insane driver. However, the driver was travelling at a very high speed and there was very little that I could do. But he eventually ran out of luck when he dashed against a few vehicles and his bus lost its momentum. This is when I clambered on to the bus with one hand on the door opposite the driver’s seat and the other one on my two-wheeler. I left my motorcycle and climbed inside the bus. What I witnessed shocked me. He was laughing aloud like a mad man, and actually seemed pleased with his actions. I refused to allow him to get to me.
His foot was still on the accelerator, so I pulled him with all my strength and finally overpowered him. The moment the bus drew to a grinding halt, I heaved a sigh of relief. The job was done.
This incident has taught me a vital lesson in life — help those in distress. Today, when we witness accidents on roads, we tend to desist from helping the wounded. It takes a few moments to help accident victims. I can’t stop thinking about how I could have saved eight lives if I had started earlier.
Images of the incident still flash in front of my eyes; these days I wake up in a sweat. But
I won’t allow this incident to get the better of me. I am hoping to join the police force someday and work for the anti-terrorism squad, so that I can save more lives in the future.
To be honest, I did not fear for my life during those tense moments. I did not even think what my parents would go through if I didn’t manage to survive. In fact, today, my parents are very proud of me. They have always taught me that by saving a human being, you save the entire humanity and by killing one, you kill the entire humanity. My aim was to save people. And I did just that.

As told to Pratik Salunke