He, however, did not want to give his statement today. He maintained that he had fired in self defence. He has reportedly not eaten since his arrest last night. ``We tried to force him to eat, but he was adamant,'' said a police official.

Surrounded by 10 policemen, Babu Ram seemed unfazed by the attention. He came out of the police van that escorted him to the courts and walked to the office of the designated Duty Magistrate barefoot. Accompanied by four more accused, he measured his words before speaking. ``I do not want to answer any questions,'' was his curt reply. He, however, boasted of having done his duty as an elder by protecting his niece and his family. In broken English he described last night's scene:``I was surrounded by the goons. There were around 200 of them. I opened fire as a reaction.''

According to him his niece, Seema, had come to his house to escape Ganesh, ``the rogue'' and his men. Seema's parents had gone to the police station to lodge a formal complaint against Ganesh who had reportedly eve-teased her. The incident got out of hand when colony elders tried to mediate, but failed. When Ganesh's relatives found out that Seema was living with her uncle for the time being, Babu Ram's house was attacked by them, prompting him to fire into the advancing mob. ``When the goondas found that Seema was with me, they attacked my house and tried to harm us,'' he said.

A hawaldar of the Army Medical Corps, Babu Ram retired on March 1, 1989. Following his retirement, he took tuitions and taught his neighbourhood children subjects ranging from English to the sciences. According to the police, because of his army background, people in the neighbourhood lived in fear of him. The licensed 12 bore single he possessed prompted people to maintain their distance.