11-year-old who was police commissioner for a day dies at AIIMS

The 11-year-old boy who became the Jaipur police commissioner for a day last year died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Monday.
Girish Sharma was diagnosed with a chronic kidney disease in January last year and had since required constant medical care. His father, Jagdish, a street vendor in Sirsa, Haryana, had brought him to Jaipur’s SMS Hospital when the Make a Wish Foundation stepped in.
“I want to be a police officer,” Girish told them.
The Make a Wish Foundation, which has fulfilled wishes of 2,550 children over a decade, coordinated with the Jaipur commissionerate for the nominal, day-long change of guard.
The foundation’s state coordinator, Sunita Shah, said most children wish for a cycle, a bike or to meet a film star. “Girish’s wish was difficult to fulfil but the Rajasthan police responded positively and we made him the police commissioner for a day,” she said.
On April 30, 2015, Girish arrived at the office of the Jaipur police commissioner in a red-beacon car, looking sharp in his crisp new uniform. He was welcomed with a guard of honour before he strode into the commissioner’s chamber.
Then police commissioner Srinivas Janga Rao gladly vacated his chair. “It was good to hear that children wish to join the force with a mission to serve the nation,” he told reporters.
But the happiness was short-lived. Girish’s condition deteriorated shortly after.
It was then that former Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda extended support to the family. “He (Kanda) sponsored Girish’s treatment at Medanta hospital. He spent around Rs 21 lakh on him, including the expenses for a kidney transplant,” Jagdish told HT over the phone from his hometown in Haryana.
In October last year, doctors successfully transplanted Girish’s failing kidney with the one donated by his mother. But his condition failed to stabilise.
“We took him to AIIMS on Monday where doctors declared him dead at 10pm,” Girish’s father said.
After fighting for over a year to save his son, Jagdish no longer wants to remember those days of constant hospital visits. “I burned all the papers and the medicines with him in the pyre. When I have lost my son, why should I keep the papers?” said Jagdish
“Girish’s illness destroyed our family.”
Girish is survived by his father, mother and three siblings — two sisters and a brother, all school dropouts.
-
India has always been open to science-based knowledge: Yogi
Lucknow Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said here on Saturday that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh always had a scientific approach and outlook because its RSS founder, Dr KB Hedgewar was a medical practitioner and had a science background. “Krishna's teaching to Arjun in Bhagwad Gita which is now 5000- years-old, still has meaning in modern times,” Yogi said. University professors were always on the look-out for promotions but hardly made effort for scientific publications.
-
Court acquits two arrested for circulating counterfeit currency
Mumbai: Accused of circulating counterfeit Indian currency notes in the city, two men, residents of Malda district in West Bengal were acquitted of the charges by a sessions court on Thursday. Suleman Razzak Shaikh, 53, and Sanaul Julum Insarali Shaikh, 29, were arrested with 60 counterfeit notes of ₹2000 denomination, on November 8, 2017. The anti-extortion cell of the Mumbai police crime branch had received a specific tip-off.
-
In Patna, over ₹3 crore in cash seized from drug inspector’s house
A separate team raided a drug inspector Jitendra Kumar's native place at Ghonsi in Jehanabad, flats in Civil Lines of Gaya district, Pharmacy College, Gola Road (Danapur) and a newly-built house at Khan-Mirza locality falling under Sultanganj police station in Patna City. Currently, he is posted in Patna and runs a Pharmacy College. It is believed that Jitendra's entire tenure in Patna with the drug control administration has been controversial.
-
52-year-old pedestrian dies after being run over by speeding SUV
Bhiwandi: A 52-year-old pedestrian was killed after being hit by a speeding SUV in Bhiwandi on Friday night. The driver of the vehicle is absconding, according to cops, who have seized the car. The deceased has been identified as Mustaque Nasir Ahmad Pathan, who lived with his family in Bhiwandi. The incident occurred at the Sallauddin Complex near Samadiya School on Friday night when the man was heading to a nearby market for shopping.
-
K'taka Cong leader MR Seetharam slams party, to meet supporters on next move
Senior Karnataka Congress leader and former state minister M R Seetharam on Friday publicly attacked the party leadership, accusing it of doing injustice to Seetharam over the years. "I am not disappointed with the party, but with the leaders who are running it. I am also as senior as them. I have worked in the party since 1983," Seetharam said.