Mangaluru: P Vilas Kumar, a Kalaburagi based advocate sent cheques for Rs 50000 each to Abdul Majid and Shekar Kulal who were first on scene when Deepak Rao, a Hindu activist and Adbul Basheer, a hotelier was murder and killed in retaliation, respectively.

In his letter addressed to deputy commissioner Sasikanth Senthil S, Vilas clearly stating he does not seek to derive any personal mileage from this act of encouraging Abdul Majid and Shekar Kulal for their act, urged the DC to hand over the cheques to these Samaritans. “The efforts and risk taken by these two persons is exemplary in nature. Hence, I salute both of them and they will be model for other persons who are trying to create hatred against each other,” he writes.

Handing over these cheques to Abdul Majid and Shekar Kulal, Kumara, additional DC appreciated the gesture by Vilas in recognizing their act. “Vilas wanted these cheques to reach these Samaritans through the district administration so that there is a sense of accountability,” Kumara said, adding the advocate at no point wanted this to be made public. Given the social import of such a gesture, the administration decided to hand over the cheques before the media, he said.

Still choked with emotion recalling his effort to help Deepak, his employee for last 7-years, Abdul Majid said, “On hearing Deepak screaming, I rushed to the spot, just outside my house. Seeing him lying in pool of blood, I called his friend Sathish and also the police.” Deputy Commissioner of police (law and order) Hanumanthraya said it was information given Abdul Majid, the first responder that helped police nab Deepak’s assailants within hours of the incident.

Shekar, who incidentally drives an ambulance for a living, said he saw Abdul Basheer lying in the middle of the road as he was returning after dropping a person.

“Mahesh who was with me in the ambulance helped me shift Basheer in to the ambulance and we took him to nearby private hospital and then informed police,” he said. A resident of Aakash Bhavan, Shekar said he knew Basheer as a person since he too was resident of the area and his son, though not intimately.