I remember when bullet hit me: Bodybuilder recalls when UP cop ‘shot him for promotion’

Jitender Yadav before (left) and after being shot and paralysed | Ananya Bhardwaj/ ThePrint

Jitender Yadav of Noida says just like Apple executive Vivek Tiwari, UP Police shot me and left me paralysed below the waist.

Noida: Just like Apple executive Vivek Tiwari, who was shot dead Saturday, Jitender Yadav says he too is a victim of unprovoked aggression from the Uttar Pradesh Police.

Yadav, a 26-year-old former bodybuilder from Parthala village of Noida, was paralysed below the waist after allegedly being shot in the neck by a sub-inspector in February. The ‘encounter’ was later found to be fake; Yadav had no criminal record.

On the night of 4 February, Yadav was on his way back home after attending his sister’s wedding when the cop, sub-inspector Vijay Darshan Sharma, allegedly shot at him to “earn a badge” and a promotion.

Sharma was arrested soon after, while three policemen who were accompanying him at the time have resumed service.

On Tuesday, Yadav was lying on a cot when ThePrint met him. He attempted to lift his right leg, but failed. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried harder, but failed again.

It was a far cry from the past, when he won many titles as a bodybuilder, including Mr Uttarakhand.

Since the incident, he has lost over 20 kg, is bed-ridden, and doesn’t have any source of income to support his wife and two children, or pay Rs 70,000 for his treatment every month.

What happened that night

“I still remember how I went numb when the bullet hit me. There was a spout of blood from my neck and I put my hand against my skin to stop it, but I fainted soon after,” Yadav said.

Yadav said was dropping off his friends after his sister’s wedding, and was standing with them outside his Mahindra Scorpio when the four cops approached them in a Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza.

“The policemen asked what we were doing there at night. When I told them I had come to drop my friends, they said that according to the new rules laid down by the Yogi Adityanath government, four men could not stand together in the middle of the night, and that we were violating the law,” he said.

“I told the cop, who was drunk, that I can come to the police station with him, but he should let my friends go.”

The cop allegedly forced Yadav and two of his friends to sit inside the Scorpio car. While the cop reportedly sat on the driver’s seat, the other three policemen pushed Yadav and his friends onto the rear seat.

“When I told the cop that I was not aware of any such new law and that he should take us to the police station instead of harassing us, he whipped out a pistol and said ‘thane bhi le chalunga, pehle ek do ka encounter karke promotion toh le lun’ (I will take you to the police station, but first let me kill one or two in an encounter and get a promotion),” Yadav alleged.

When Yadav and his friends tried to resist and get out of the car, sub-inspector Sharma, who was in the driver’s seat, allegedly loaded his pistol, pointed it at the rear seat and fired, without even looking back.

“He did not even care to look back. The bullet tore through my neck and came out from the spinal cord,” Yadav said.

He was rushed to the hospital by his friends.

“My friends told the cops that they would not report this incident if they agree to rush me for treatment. Despite that, they took two hours to get me to the hospital. My friends told me that the cops drove in the first gear, and took many stops before reaching the hospital,” he alleged.

“They wanted me to bleed to death so that they could escape, but it is only because of my friends that I was saved. Had I been alone, the cops would have dumped my body somewhere and no one would have known. They could not have justified killing three people, so they had no choice but to take me to the hospital.”

‘Should’ve overpowered him’

At the time of the incident, Yadav was preparing to compete at the national-level bodybuilding championships, but his dreams came crashing when doctors told him that he will not be able to walk.

“That was the most difficult moment. More than taking the bullet, this is what affected me the most. It was my dream to reach the national level and I had been working hard towards it. All in vain,” he said.

“Today, I cannot even stand on my feet. I can’t sleep at night as I get weird dreams about cops chasing me. The gunshot still resonates in my ear. My life will never be the same again.”

Yadav regrets that he did not overpower Sharma on the night.

“If I had overpowered him outside the car, I would not have been on this bed today. I should not have sat inside the car when he asked me to. I only did so because I was not at fault, I did not try to run away or pick a fight,” he said.

“Like a law abiding citizen, I did what he asked me to, because he was in uniform. But I should have realised that he was a rogue in uniform.”

No help from UP govt

Soon after the incident, many well-known politicians visited Yadav, promising to get him compensation from the UP government and arrange for his medical expenses. However, as the case fell out of the media glare, he was left alone to fight his battles.

“We did not get any compensation or money for my treatment. Today, I am paralysed from waist down, cannot move around even to attend to the nature’s call, so either my wife or a caretaker has to be on standby all day and night,” he said.

“Each month, we are spending over Rs 70,000 for the treatment. We are in debt, have exhausted all our savings, and are completely dependent on my elder brother.”

Yadav’s mother Suman Devi blamed the UP government for emboldening its cops to a level that they go around shooting innocent people for accolades.

“How could a policeman open fire without there being a need? They have become extortionists. My son had just gone to drop his friends, so why shoot him? It is clear that they have been given a free hand to use the pistol the way they want,” she said.

“I wish I could bring back that moment when he stood before me in a black suit that night as he was leaving for the wedding. He looked so handsome. It hurts to see him like this.

“That one policeman took away my son’s career, his happiness.”