Injured in Firozabad protest on December 20, man succumbs

Mohammad Abrar, a daily wage labourer, was first admitted to a government hospital in Agra, and then sent to Delhi, where he was operated upon at the Indraprastha Apollo hospital. He suffered a gunshot wound in the spine.

Abrar’s brother Abdul Mukhtalib said, “At the hospital, we were told that he is paralysed waist down but he had made it out alive. On January 9, he was discharged from the hospital and brought back home to Firozabad. On Sunday, at 11 pm, he died.”

Abrar is survived by his wife and their six-year-old son.

Abrar’s brother said, “On the day of the violence last month, my brother was on a bike and was returning home when he was shot at. Eyewitnesses there told us that he was shot by the police. Around 6 pm, we found out that Abrar had been taken to a hospital.”

At least six people have died in Firozabad.

Mukhtalib alleged that when Abrar was conscious, he said that he was “not part of the protest, and was shot at after which he fell in a drain, and was pulled out by some people”.

Abrar was the sole breadwinner in his family. “We had borrowed Rs 40,000 from neighbours and relatives for his treatment and some people in Delhi helped too. Abrar’s wife is handicapped and doesn’t work. Who will support his family now?” Mukhtalib said.

When Abrar was at the Apollo hospital, a source had confirmed that “the patient had a gunshot injury in the lumbar spine and was operated upon”.