Thirteen years after he was accused of theft and beaten up,a former employee of a diamond polishing unit at Kurar in Malad East shot his erstwhile employer with a country-made revolver before surrendering at the police station to escape an angry mob which started chasing him after the incident. Police confirmed the arrest of Himmat Makwana,a resident of Surat,on charges of attempt to murder and have recovered a country-made revolver and knife from him. His victim,Govindbhai Damji (42),suffered a gunshot to his stomach and has been shifted to the Sanjeevani hospital in Malad where his condition is said to be critical. Senior Police Inspector Mohan Sankhe from the Kurar police station said,Govindbhai Damji owns a diamond polishing unit at Janu compound in Kurar. At 8:30 am on Monday morning,Damji had come to open his unit when Makwana,who was waiting nearby,approached him and shot him once in his stomach with a country made revolver. When the sound of the shot attracted the attention to the public,Makwana started running. After being chased for some distance by the public,Makwana rushed in the police station and surrendered. We recovered a country-made revolver and a knife from his person. Meanwhile,Damji was rushed to the hospital. On being interrogated,Makwana revealed that he had been an employee of Damji around 13 years ago. In 1997,Damji had suspected Makwana of committing a theft in his unit and had beaten him up and fired him from his job after publicly humiliating him. Makwana seems to have been consumed with anger at the humiliation and decided to take his revenge by shooting Damji. However,we are still not sure why Makwana waited for over a decade to try and avenge himself. We have charged him with attempt to murder and are making further inquiries, added Sankhe.
