Jabalpur woman who was shot by BJP leader dies during treatment

The girl had earlier issued a statement from hospital stating that the BJP leader had shot her. She said she did not know why the accused wanted to kill her.

Jabalpur: The injured woman, who was undergoing treatment after being allegedly shot by a BJP leader, died in Jabalpur. She was on ventilator support for the last 30 hours and the infection had spread throughout her body, doctors said.

The incident took place on June 16 when the youth BJP leader, identified as Priyansh Vishwakarma, asked the woman to meet him at his office in Mandafaiya in Jabalpur's Dhanvantari Nagar. At his office, the man allegedly shot the woman with his licensed pistol. The woman, identified as Vedika Thakur, an MBA student sustained severe injuries and fell on the ground unconscious. After which, he informed Devika's aunt that her health condition has deteriorated and the latter reached the BJP leader's Jabalpur office immediately.

Priyansh then took Devika in his car and drove her to Smart City Hospital, which is owned by BJP leader Dr. Amit Khare. Without informing the police, Devika's treatment was started in the hospital to cover up the incident. But, as there was no specialist to remove the bullet from Devika's body, Priyansh shifted Devika to another private hospital and then absconded with the CCTV cameras installed in his office.

When police received information eight hours after the incident, they inspected the office and sealed it. But, the lock was broken by Priyansh's associates and evidence was removed before the forensic team reached the spot.

The incident has raised questions on the role of police as FIR could not be lodged even after 24 hours of the incident. Vedika's relatives complained that when they reached the police station to register an FIR, police refused to accept the complaint. It was only after they created a ruckus at the police station that senior police officials arrived and a case was registered against Priyansh. Vedika's family alleged they were pressurised by Priyansh to withdraw the complaint.

Congress workers too came out in support of Vedika and gheraoed the Superintendent of Police's office demanding action against the accused. Police raided several places and finally arrested Priyansh. Meanwhile, Devika issued a statement from the hospital stating that Priyansh shot her but said that she did not know why he did so.