Patna, Jan. 9: Two months after he was shot at in front of his Chajjubagh residence, deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Shashi Bhushan Sharma is back home.

Though a bit withdrawn, the officer has recovered almost completely and is set to join duty soon.

But Sharma still recounts the horror of the night of November 9 when unidentified gunmen shot at him, seriously injuring him.

With Sharma back in the capital, the investigation in the sensational case is expected to proceed fast now, as the police were waiting to record his statement. Sharma was undergoing plastic surgery on his palm at the New Delhi-based Medanta Hospital.

Sharma told The Telegraph that it was a lucky escape for him. He mentioned the green Maruti 800 in which his attackers were trailing his vehicle, but he had no clue about it till he reached his residence around 10.30pm.

“I had no clue that someone was following my vehicle. Once I parked the Gypsy in front of the gate of my Chajjubagh house, a car, which was behind me, drove up beside mine. It was green in colour and the partially tinted windows were rolled up. That was the first time when I had a doubt. But then I thought that probably someone had come down to meet me. So I alighted from my vehicle

and approached the vehicle,” he said.

As Sharma walked up close, the left glass window of the car was rolled down a bit and a gun pointed at me.

“It shocked me, but then I swiftly caught hold of it in a bid to snatch it. We got into a scuffle for a few seconds before they pulled at the gun, which slipped out of my fingers. Immediately, they fired two shots. With my hands so close to the barrel, a bullet hit my right palm, while the other grazed past my neck. I staggered and the van sped away,” recalled Sharma.

Sharma started bleeding profusely and somehow made it inside the house after knocking at the door.

“When I told my family members that I was shot, they were flabbergasted. I came out again and narrated the incident to residents of a nearby slum. I found a rickshaw passing by and climbed on it. A few paces ahead, I saw a car coming that I waved to a halt. It took me to Patna Medical College Hospital,” Sharma said.

DSP (Town) Sheela Irani has been given the charge of investigating the case.

Earlier, talks with the police have proved that the case was progressing at a snail’s pace, as Sharma could not give his first-hand statement being wounded. The police had said his statement would be recorded once the officer was back.

“The police did not take his statement as he was not well and was not able to speak properly because of his injuries. The police will talk to him now and record his statement before the case progresses,” a senior police officer said.