I usually get scared: Braveheart who saved Mumbai shopkeeper's life

"I'm no braveheart. I usually get scared very easily and tend to avert my gaze when fights break out, because I can't stand bloodshed. I have no idea what got into me that day. Allah gave me the strength to save the man's life," said Nasiruddin Mansuri (45) who overpowered a sword-wielding man and saved a Chembur shopkeeper's life on Tuesday night. (Read Story: Braveheart comes to shopkeeper's aid, overpowers sword-wielding goon)

Nasiruddin Mansuri

"In fact, while I wasn't thinking of anything at the time when I actually overpowered the goon, I couldn't sleep that night, because I was trembling thinking what could have happened had the man attacked me as well," added Mansuri.

Nasiruddin Mansuri yesterday and in action on Tuesday night

mid-day had reported yesterday how Rajnish Singh Thakur (36), a physically challenged shopkeeper was attacked with a sword on Tuesday night for daring to raise his voice against a group of druggies who used to extort money from nearly 200 shopkeepers on the threat of violence and arson.

His brother Manish had said that had it not been for a customer who stopped druggie Aslam Shaikh (28), and got him arrested, Rajnish would not have been alive.

Saving the oppressed
We managed to track down the braveheart yesterday. Mansuri, a tailor who works in a garment company, had gone to the shop to get a recharge for his phone when Shaikh attacked Rajnish.

"I had gone to the shop to get a recharge, when a man with a sword came out of nowhere and started slashing at the shopkeeper. I had no time to think. I just did what I felt at the time, which was to save a man from dying," said Mansuri.

"I don't know where I got that much strength from, because I think of myself as a coward and can't stand bloodshed. I feel the Almighty Allah helped me overpower the man. Islam teaches us to help the oppressed and stand up to oppressors. I think I did what should have been done. It was an act done in the heat of the moment," added Mansuri.

‘Eternally grateful'
The Thakurs, meanwhile, say they will be forever grateful to Mansuri and plan to felicitate him. "We cannot repay Mansuri bhai for what he has done. We have seen the CCTV footage of how he overpowered the man without thinking of his own safety.

He could have left the shop or could have sat in a corner, as he was just a customer, but he showed exemplary courage and saved my brother's life," said Manish Singh Thakur, the victim's brother.

"We are waiting for my brother to get discharged from the hospital, after which we will felicitate Mansuri bhai and also give him a token of appreciation for his bravery and what he has done for us," added Manish.