Staff Reporter
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, today staged a dharna at the Parliament Street police station with a pellet gun victim Sahil Lochab, demanding registration of an FIR over pellet injuries suffered during the CJP led July 20 protest and said he would not leave until the complaint was registerd.
The Delhi Police informed the Congress leader that the Supreme Court has constituted a High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) to examine allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by the police, paramilitary forces during the student protests.
“We stand for students. We stand for justice. We will not be silent. Dharna at DCP office till FIR is filed,” the Congress posted on X as Rahul Gandhi, along with the victim and his mother, sat outside the police station. Soon, Priyanka Gandhi too joined the protest.
While on a dharna, Rahul Gandhi posted on X that “on July 20 the police attacked Sahil, who was peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar, with a pellet gun”. As a result, Gandhi said, Sahil’s “vision in one eye is now at risk”.
The Delhi police has denied the use of pellet on student protesters.
Pellet guns, which were first used in 2010 against protesters in Kashmir, and shock batons are part of the gear of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), the riot-control wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which was deployed at Jantar Mantar, the protest site. The CRPF is silent on its use during the Delhi protests. The SOP is that the gun should be fired from a minimum distance of 500 feet. The muzzle of the gun should always be targeted below the waist.
Gandhi, along with the victim, stepped in front of media and held up a small pastic box, He then opened the box and spilled the contents onto his palm and showed them to the reporters.
“Ye hai pellets, dekh lijiye inko, achhi tarah se dekh lijiye, ye hain pellets (These are pellets, take a look at them, look at them closely, these are pellets),” Gandhi said.
“Ye inke shareer se aaye (These came from his body),” Gandhi said, urging Sahil to show the injuries.
The Student then rolled up his sleeve and showed the injuries.
“Ye inke yahan lage hain charre. 200 charre inke shareer ke andar hain aur teen charre inki aankh main hai (These pellets are lodged in his body. There are 200 pellets inside him and three are lodged in his eye),” Gandhi said.
BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Rahul Gandhi of doing “politics of anarchy” and said it appears a tactic to deflect attention away from the Vande Mataram row.