Maharaj Krishna Kapoor was in the bank to verify the status of his grandson’s cheque when he saw the robbers threatening the manager.

“I was standing at the fixed deposit counter when I saw one of the men wearing helmet showing pistol to the manager. I went inside and held him from behind. As I couldn’t grip him properly, I held his neck and dragged him outside the bank,” Kapoor said. “I overpowered him, but he put the gun on my chest and asked me to set him free and be quiet. He said he respected me and did not want to hurt me because of my old age.”

After that, the assailant freed himself and ran towards the Pulsar motorcycle, firing in air to disperse the crowd. “He jumped on his bike, but one person pushed him, and he lost his balance and fell off.”

Kapoor said he did not know what inspired him to be fearless. “I was not scared at all. I don’t know what power drove me to dare the robber at this age. I also saved a girl in another such incident,” he said.

Kapoor lives in the Kalkaji colony with his daughter, who is a manager in NTPC. “I retired in 1996 and stay home most of the time,” he said.

Kapoor said the entire incident took only 10 minutes. “The assailant loitered in the bank for about 5 minutes before going to the manager’s cabin. And another 5 minutes he took to free himself from me and escape.”

A senior police officer said he could not fire at Kapoor, as after the first shot inside the bank, as the top part of his gun had got stuck.