Harinder Bains is being hailed as a hero for leading police to the man who attempted to carry out devastating terror attacks in the US but says his actions amount to no more than “what every American would have done”.

The Indian American bar owner was watching television coverage of Saturday’s bombing in New York and attempted attacks in New Jersey when he noticed a man sleeping outside his business in Linden.

Mr Bains said he first dismissed the figure as a “drunk guy” wandering the streets before recognising him as Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspected plotter and suspect of a two-day nationwide manhunt.

Police chief and residents speak of Ahmed Rahami capture

He alerted police on Monday morning, allowing them to capture the 28-year-old after a shootout that left him in hospital.

“I did what I think every American would have done,” Mr Bains told CNN. “My neighbour would have done the same thing. Any Jewish, Christian, Sikh, Muslim. Anybody would have done the same thing.”

Mr Bains’ intervention allowed authorities to put Rahami in custody, preventing any further attacks and investigating his al-Qaeda-inspired plans for “jihad” against the US.

Commentators, politicians and social media users are praising him as a “hero”, particularly in light of the discrimination frequently reported by Sikh Americans following Islamist terror attacks.

A man wearing a turban was run over and beaten in California in December by attackers believed to have mistaken him for a Muslim following the San Bernardino shooting carried out by Isis supporters.

Some analysts have attributed verbal and physical assaults to a lack of awareness over the difference between traditional Sikh and Islamic dress, but others have viewed the attacks as a symptom of general anger and fear towards those perceived as “other”.

In pictures: New York bomb explosion Show all 25 1 /25 In pictures: New York bomb explosion In pictures: New York bomb explosion A police robot accidentally detonated one of five explosive devices left outside a train station in New Jersey. Officials said the bomb squad robot cut a wire on the mechanism in a bid to defuse it - but instead set off an explosion. The device had been left in a backpack and placed in a bin outside the train station in Elizabeth Universal News And Sport (Europe In pictures: New York bomb explosion A member of the New York City Police Department stands guard in Herald Square Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (3-R) and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (2-R) tour the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tour the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York on September 18, 2016. The bomb that exploded in New York AFP/Getty In pictures: New York bomb explosion A genral view down the street near the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York AFP/Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (L) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hug after touring the site of the bomb blast on 23rd St. in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion A mangled dumpster sits on the sidewalk at the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion An explosion in a construction dumpster that injured 29 people is being labeled an "intentional act". A second device, a pressure cooker, was found four blocks away that an early investigation found was likely also a bomb Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (2-R) and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (3-R) stand in front of a mangled dumpster while touring the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion A member of the New York City Police Department K-9 Unit patrols on a subway train between Grand Central Terminal and Times Square Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion FBI agents review the crime scene of remnants of bomb debris on 23rd St. in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion Members of the NYPD, FBI, ATF and other agencies investigate the the scene, following a late night explosion on West 23rd Street in New York AFP/Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials mark the ground near the site of an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, right, walks from the scene of an explosion on West 23rd street in Manhattan AP In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers stand near the site of an explosion REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion Evidence markers on the street surround police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials near the site REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion A fire truck is seen near a blocked off road near the site of an alleged bomb explosion on West 23rd Street AFP/Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City firefighters stand near the site of the explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion A New York City Police emergency services officer and his dog check a bin close to the scene EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Police and Fire Department at the scene of the explosion EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion A New York City firefighter uses a wheeled stretcher to carry supplies near the site of the explosion REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion A New York City Police emergency service heavy weapons officer guards close to the scene of the explosion on 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenue EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, center, and NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill, center right, speak during a press conference near the scene AP In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Police Emergency Services units are deployed on 27th Street and 7th Avenue where police found a second explosive device EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion Police investigators look through the debris on the street in front of St. Vincent de Paul church where the explosion occurred EPA

Mr Bains, who was born in India, insisted he was not a hero and said his Sikh faith taught him to take a stand against atrocities and persecution of any kind, adding: “We will be stronger like this if we do everything together.”

Rahami is accused of using a mobile phone to detonate a pipe bomb targeting a charity run by US Marines in Seaside Park on Saturday, as well as pressure cooker bomb that injured 31 people in New York 11 hours later.

Police found an unexploded bomb nearby in 27th Street, while a bomb disposal robot accidentally set off another package of improvised explosives dumped at Elizabeth railway station in New Jersey.

Prosecutors said Rahami bought bomb ingredients on eBay and recorded a video of himself gleefully igniting a blast in a back garden.

His journal contained praise for Nidal Hasan, who massacred 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, “brother Osama bin Laden” and Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-Yemeni al-Qaeda recruiter killed in a US drone strike in 2011.

Federal charges filed on Tuesday detailed the extremist ramblings, which ended with the message: “Inshallah [God willing] the sounds of the bombs will be heard in your streets. Gunshots to your police. Death to your oppression.”