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SP’s son held for assault on African student
Dharmendra Joshi/TNS

Victim may be shifted to PGI

Patiala: Yannick (23) might soon be shifted to PGI, Chandigarh, for better treatment. A medical board of four specialist doctors, including Civil Surgeon Dr Virinder Singh Mohi, examined Yannick on Saturday. "He is off the ventilator but is unable to make any purposeful movement in the upper and lower limbs. He is currently being fed by Ryles tube. His vitals, including blood pressure and pulse, were normal but we feel that he should be shifted to the PGI for better medical care," said Dr Mohi.

Jalandhar, July 7
The police on Saturday arrested the son of Nawanshahr SP (D) in connection with an assault on a foreign student of Lovely Professional University. Romi Uppal, one of the absconding accused, has been arrested, confirmed DCP Sarbjit Singh. The DCP said Romi surrendered at police station number 7 and was formally arrested.

Romi, son of Nawanshahr SP (D) Dharam Singh Uppal, is the third person to be arrested in the case. Sahil Deep Singh of Mota Singh Nagar and Sumit Bunny of Jawahar Nagar are already under arrest and have been lodged in Kapurthala jail.

A first-year student of BSc (Computers) at Lovely Professional University, Yannick Nizhanga, a Burundi national, was brutally beaten up by a group of youths, who were allegedly under the influence of alcohol, outside his rented accommodation in Dashmesh Nagar locality in Jalandhar on the night of April 21. Yannick has since been lying in coma at Colombia Asia Hospital in Patiala.

Eyewitness Charanjit Sidhu had told the police that Yannick and his friends had hired his autorickshaw to go to a liquor shop, where the African national had a heated argument with a group of youths who were drunk.

The youths followed Yannick and his friends to Dashmesh Nagar and hit him with iron rods and bottles, leaving him in a pool of blood. An FIR was registered at police station number 7 on the night of April 21-22 under Sections 307, 452 and 34 of the IPC.

Other accused in the case, including Aman Deep, is still at large. The police has stepped up efforts to arrest them.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has announced immediate financial help of Rs 5 lakh to the victim’s father Nestor Ntibateganya. Yannick’s total medical bill could go beyond Rs 15 lakh. Patiala SDM Gurpal Singh Chahal said a cheque of Rs 5 lakh has been given to the hospital. "There will be no financial burden on Yannick's father. Many NGOs have come forward to extend their support to the family," he said.

"My son's health is my prime concern. I just want that he should be provided the best medical assistance so that he can recover fast," said Yannick’s father.

(With inputs from Gagan K Teja in Patiala)