I have no hope from UP Govt, they abandoned me, says another victim of UP Police

NOIDA: Paralysed waist down after a bullet shot by a Uttar Pradesh policemen hit him in his neck and travelled down his spine in February, 26-year-old Jitendra Yadav is confined to his bed but has read up all news on his phone on the killing of Apple's executive Vivek Tiwari in Lucknow three days ago by another UP policeman. "This case only reinforces the way the UP police has been functioning lately - trigger-happy and reckless and destroying lives - like mine," Yadav rues.

It is exactly eight months now since Yadav was shot by a Inspector named Vijay Darshan while he was returning home in Noida on the night of February 3. He claims it was all a misunderstanding as the inebriated Inspector objected to Yadav and his friends being out so late.

The state government later regretted the incident. "Yogi government has paid Rs 25 lakh to Tiwari's family. That is the worth of a person's life in this state. What is worse is that UP government has paid me nothing in terms of compensation. They just abandoned me. I have no hope from them as well now," Yadav told ET.



Noida's BJP MP and Union Minister Mahesh Sharma had visited Yadav in Fortis Hospital in Noida when he was admitted there for almost a month. "The Minister had then said the government will stand by me till I do not stand on my feet. The government did clear the hospital bill while I was there but abandoned me thereafter. No further compensation was given to me. Now, I am spending Rs 50000 a month on my medical treatment from my own pocket. The Ministers and MLAs who came to see me then now do not even give time now," Yadav says. Expenses includes nearly Rs 25000 a month on a physiotherapist who is trying to make Yadav walk again, without any success so far, his medicines, repeat MRIs and a full-time qualified help he employed. "Whenever I try to stand, I collapse. Doctors can't say when I will be all right. I have spent Rs 18 lakh on my treatment and the court case so far. I have to ensure the cop does not get away," he says.

Yadav has been closely following the court case after the accused Inspector was charged in the case and is in jail. The Inspector was not granted bail from the Allahabad High Court and he is in jail. "But three of his team members who were along with him that night are free. The case was meant to be under Section 307 (attempt to murder) but has been diluted to Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide)," Yadav says.

He ran a popular Gym in the area and used to earn nearly Rs 70,000 a month from it before tragedy struck. "The Gym is hardly able to make any money now. I have two small children and was married just four years ago. I was an aspiring body-builder and weighed 104 kgs before this incident - now I am down to just 70 kgs. My health is now failing," Yadav says, struggling to keep a hold on his emotions.

His family met former CM Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow after the incident who had also raised the matter in the state assembly while Samajwadi party raised it in the Lok Sabha. "Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath did mention me name once, regretting the incident, but that was about it. No further help was given," he says. A full prosthetic leg support and a pair of crutches lie next to his bed, but Yadav has hardly used them. "I am unable to stand or even sit properly," he says.