Children hold hands as part of a human chain to condemn the Mumbai blasts. (Reuters)

Mumbai, July 18: A compensation circus is rolling in Mumbai a week after the blasts, and rogues are making merry while genuine victims haven’t got a penny in damages.

A poor construction worker, Sagar Thakur, and his wife Sangeeta have been arrested and booked for fraud by Andheri police for falsely claiming the body of 60-year-old Jitendra Gandhi who was killed in the Jogeshwari explosion.

The couple, both in their mid-twenties, apparently did the rounds of several hospitals before managing to con Cooper Hospital authorities. They got Rs 1 lakh as compensation.

The duo even performed Gandhi’s last rites at Oshiwara crematorium before returning to their home near a construction site in Thane. Sagar is believed to have told police his wife had tuberculosis and he needed money for her treatment.

Although Sagar’s prank left Gandhi’s son Mitul shocked, it is only a sideshow in the general story of harried relatives of blast victims rushing from pillar to post to claim damages but getting only harassment in return.

Lakshmi Salian, whose husband Jagdish’s hearing was affected in the Borivli blast, is at her wits’ end. “I have given up! I really can’t take it any more.

“I have been asked to go to so many places to get the amount that I finally decided it isn’t worth the effort. We haven’t received a rupee from either the state government or the Western Railway.”

Lakshmi said she was told to take Jagdish to Bhakti Vedant Hospital on Mira Road where the government had apparently arranged medical care. But at the hospital, they were asked to register with the police.

“With my husband in tow, my sister-in-law went to the police station where they were asked to produce a letter from the doctor. But doctors refused to give one without paperwork from the police.

“Then they were asked to go to the other police station under whose jurisdiction the Borivli blasts came! By the end of it, my husband was too ill to go anywhere,” Lakshmi said.

The family has a pending bill of almost Rs 10,000 and if in six weeks Jagdish’s hearing doesn’t improve, the family will have to shell out Rs 25,000 for an operation.

Mohammed Salim, who trudged to the Churchgate accident cell with injuries in his head and hand, didn’t have too good a time either.

“I have no one who can help me with this. I took my younger daughter along with me to Churchgate. While I have already received my money from the state government, I am still to get anything from the WR,” he said.

“They said they would send me the money but I am yet to see it. I am very depressed and I don’t know when I will finally get it. I really need it for my treatment.”

For Pankaj Shah’s brother Badresh, the problem is different. Before anything else, he has to prove his brother was injured.

“My brother was taken to KEM where he was given first aid. When people came in with serious injuries, my brother was not given any attention. So we moved him to Borivli’s Bhagwat nursing home.

“So although his name was on the list, we didn’t have his discharge certificate! I have been running from one place to the other to get the required documents,” Badresh said.

Others, like Dinesh Bhai, have submitted all the documents but have yet to get any money.

“I have six stitches each on my head and back but I haven’t got a penny from anyone. I have submitted my discharge certificate, PAN card and my train pass,” Dinesh, due to get Rs 5,000, said.