Ex-pradhan booked for ‘false’ info: Stand by what I said

Noida: A former village pradhan at Mewla Gopalgarh, accused by the Gautam Budh Nagar administration of making “false statements” before the media, was on Tuesday quizzed by police after an FIR was filed against him at Jewar police station.
The investigating officer spoke to Yogesh Talan, who has been booked under IPC sections 188 (disobedience of a public servant’s order), 269 & 270 (act spreading infection), and provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act.Also under the administration’s scanner is Harveer Talan, a 65-year-old resident of the village who has been ill. Harveer had been seeking treatment under a tree, in whose shade some others were also being given oxygen drips, when TOI visited the village on May 13.
Harveer Talan, according to the administration, had been intentionally consulting quacks and was refusing to get admitted at Covid care facilities even after a bed was confirmed for him.
The complainant in the case, in-charge of the primary health care centre in Jewar, told police that a rapid antigen test was conducted on Harveer in front of Yogesh on May 15, but the latter kept giving misleading and incorrect information to local villagers and media personnel.
Yogesh has been also held accused of brainwashing Harveer and convincing his family to not send him to a Covid care facility in Greater Noida despite having low oxygen saturation levels. “I have been asked to give my statement. I asked police officials to come and arrest me. I am ready to go to jail. But I stand by whatever I have said and have documentary evidence to establish it in court,” said Yogesh, who had on Monday said he was being targeted for speaking against the government.
The villagers are awaiting results of tests that have been conducted recently. So far, seven people have been found Covid positive and their details have been compiled and shared with the police