Journalist shot dead in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
Representational image. Image Credit: IANS

Patna: A one rupee coin saved the life of an Indian man after a bullet fired by a gangster to rob the cash hit the coin in his pocket.

Police said Suraj Bhagat, a delivery man with a prominent e-commerce company posted in Gumla district in eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, was returning to office on his bike on Sunday evening when three motorcycle-borne gangsters waylaid him at a deserted location.

The robbers tried to snatch huge cash he was carrying with him but the man resisted. In a fit of rage, one of the criminals fired a shot at the delivery boy from a close range. But as luck had it, the bullet hit the coin kept in his jacket’s pocket and missed the target.

“It’s nothing but a miraculous escape. Had the bullet not hit the coin, it could have been life-threatening to the man,” a prominent medical expert Dr Ajit Kumar told the media. According to the doctor who is posted at Ranchi-based government, vital organs like the femoral artery and veins are located near the part of the body where the bullet hit.

“This artery and veins are used for angiography and angioplasty as well as dialysis. Had the bullet hit any of these body parts, this would have resulted in excessive bleeding leading to a very critical situation,” the doctor said, adding the coin in his pocket proved lucky for the victim.

The police are conducting raids to nab the absconding gangsters. “We are conducting raids and the accused will be caught soon,” a senior police official Manoj Kumar told the local media on Monday.

The incidents of robbery have become a big headache for the police with the gangsters going on the rampage. According to a police report, 538 cases of robbery have taken place in the past nine months since January this year. February, January, July, and September saw a maximum number of cases.