CHANDIGARH, May 19: Lying on his bed in the Male Medical Ward at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32, Constable Chaman Lal stares blankly at the ceiling. With a broken spine, that's about all he can do without hurting himself, says a neurosurgeon who attended to him at the PGI. What's worse, things might never change for him, the medico adds.On the fateful morning of May 8, the escort Gypsy accompanying Mayor Gian Chand Gupta reportedly crashed into a tree near the Saddopur barrier near Ambala. Constables Chaman Lal and Babu Ram and head constable Kewal Krishan received severe spinal injuries. After spending three days at the PGI a period during which doctors say they showed no improvement they were referred to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala.Disheartened by the death of Babu Ram at Patiala on May 14, Chaman Lal and Kewal Krishan requested their seniors that they be moved out and allowed to return to their families. A senior police official brought back the two on Saturday. While Chaman Lal is admitted to the Sector 32 GMC, Kewal Krishan chose to shift from his house in Manimajra to his village in Roopnagar district.Doctors at the PGI had declared the three paraplegics. In simpler terms, "their spines have been severely damaged and there is no sensation or movement in the lower halves of their bodies".Though Babu Ram died at Patiala, doctors assessed that Kewal Krishan was the worst affected of the three. "His spine is broken and dislocated, which means that the nerve has been cut. The chances of recovery of the two survivors are bleak. In fact, at this moment, the prognosis is not at all favourable," the specialist rules. The two have been asked to report to the PGI after a month to "study any signs of their getting better", he adds. The Police Department has no provision for providing any monetary aid to the families of the injured. And with no help forthcoming from any other quarter, life ahead is not easy. When asked whether the Mayor has offered financial assistance, Chaman Lal replied bitterly: "He hasn't even come to see me, let alone give me any money." "I don't know Chaman Lal's address," explains Gupta. "I went to Babu Ram's house in Sector 26 but the cremation was held somewhere in Yamunanagar and I am planning to go to Kewal Krishan's house," he adds.Regarding any financial help being offered to them, Gupta quips, "They were on official duty, not on BJP duty." As regards making a contribution from his own pocket, "That, I don't want to reveal." In fact, it seems, he is not even aware of their condition. "Kewal Krishan is OK, Chaman Lal is also fine," he says with conviction.The only ray of hope for the two is that their services might be retained by the Police Department. "We are trying to work out some kind of sitting jobs for them, which they can perform without much effort," reveals SP (Security) Balbir Singh.
