Tej Bahadur Yadav Is Alive: Jawan’s Wife, BSF Dismiss Death Hoax

A photo of a dead jawan, alleged to be Yadav, that has been circulating on the internet had sparked the rumour.

On Wednesday, social media was abuzz with the news that BSF ‘whistle-blower’ Tej Bahadur Yadav had been killed. A photo of a dead jawan, alleged to be Yadav, which is circulating on the internet had sparked the rumour.

However, the Border Security Force (BSF) and Yadav’s wife have dismissed the rumours, saying he is alive and healthy.

The photo circulating on Facebook and Twitter shows a jawan with his eyes closed, his nose bleeding and a part of his face covered with a cloth.

The picture of the dead jawan was juxtaposed with one of Yadav’s, and the close resemblance triggered the rumours. However, a BSF spokesperson told The Quint he was alive.

Tej Bahadur Yadav is hale and hearty. He is currently stationed in Samba district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Shubhendu Bhardwaj, BSF Public Relations Officer 

Yadav’s wife, too, has dismissed the rumours.

A veteran jawan, who had seen the social media posts, had called me to inquire about my husband. I called him (Yadav) and have spoken with him. He is absolutely fine and is at the station, where he is awaiting the board of inquiry probing charges against and by him.

Sharmila Yadav to Outlook

Incidentally, the picture that was said to be of Yadav had also surfaced nearly two weeks ago, and was claimed to be that of one of the CRPF jawans killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh.

While the BSF has not started an official inquiry into the matter, an official said “some of these posts have been shared by IDs which have ‘Indian-sounding’ names but it needs to be probed as to what is the geo-location of the posts,” Outlook reported.

Also Read: BSF Jawan a Good Man, But Not Fit for the Forces: Senior Official

Yadav was recently in the news after he posted a video that went viral. In the video – which led to an inquiry against him – Yadav had described the poor quality of food provided to jawans at the border and also alleged corruption by army officers.

After the video went viral, Yadav’s wife had claimed that her husband had gone missing. She also alleged that he had called her and claimed he was being threatened and harassed and had been put under house arrest.

The BSF later denied these claims and said he was stationed at a battalion headquarter in Jammu and was free to contact his family.