The first morning walker whose mobile phone was snatched on Red Road on Wednesday was a 21-year-old who is new to the city. The second was a 49-year-old Calcuttan who responded to the cries of the first and came forward to help.

Garments trader Sachin Kumar Shaw who has recently come to the city from Bihar was robbed of Rs 4,500 and his mobile phone at gunpoint. Rakesh Rana, who works as a peon in an office in central Calcutta, was jogging with a friend a few metres away, was the first to respond. Rana rushed towards Shaw when he realised a fellow morning walker was being robbed, police said. He, too, was forced to part with his mobile phone, the police added.

As the two scooter-borne attackers fled, Rana and his friend who had a two-wheeler gave chase and found them attacking another morning walker — Hargovind Vyas — with a “big knife and a gun”, they purportedly told cops.

The accused duo saw Rana approach on the two-wheeler and fled. Rana chased the scooter till the Outram Road-JL Nehru Road crossing after which the two managed to escape towards Park Street, the police said.

The two suspects who were later arrested have claimed that they lost their jobs during the Covid pandemic, the police said. The police are yet to verify their statement.

“One of them has claimed he worked in a shoe manufacturing unit and the other was an embroidery tailor and that both have lost their jobs. These soft claims are very common among criminals to gain sympathy… But the presence of a gun suggests that they are not amateurs,” said an officer in Lalbazar.

The police said the butt of the gun was used to hit Hargovind on his head when he tried to resist the snatchers snatching his iPhone.

Hargovind, who jointly runs his family business of wholesale grocery and printer’s ink, received four sharp cut wounds apart from being hit on his head with the pistol butt. “He had sharp weapon injuries all over him. One on his right leg, two on his right arm and wrist and one deep gash on his left arm. He received 80 stitches at SSKM hospital, including 12 on his head,” said a police officer.

The arrested duo — Mohammad Imran alias Totla, 33, of Phoolbagan Road in Entally, and Sheikh Sameer Hossain alias Saboo, 33, of Dr Suresh Sarkar Road — have been charged with sections of robbery and attempting to cause death or grievous hurt while commission of the offence. They will be produced in court on Thursday.

The police said they used electronic surveillance and human intelligence to zero in on the accused. “We received the information at 5.35am when a caller dialled 100. There was a simultaneous alert from the traffic control room. Our officers were at the spot within the next five minutes along with an ambulance to rescue the injured person. The accused were arrested within a few hours,” said a senior officer in Lalbazar.

Hargovind’s younger brother Shambhu, who had rushed to the spot after being informed, said Hargovind was lying in a pool of blood but had not lost consciousness. “He was aware of his surroundings and told me everything. He had been very brave,” said Shambhu.

Later in the afternoon, Hargovind was discharged from the hospital and the family brought him back to their Burrabazar home.

The other victims — Rana, of Chatawala Gali in Bowbazar, and Shaw, who is presently staying on SN Banerjee Road — were escorted to the Maidan police station where they recorded their statements.

Rana reported the robbery of his mobile phone and Shaw reported the snatching of his mobile phone and Rs 4,500.

The Maidan police station initiated a case for the three robberies, which was taken over by the anti-dacoity and robbery squad of the Calcutta police’s detective department.