Delhi Police Ordered Pellet Gun Use on Protesters, Police Diary Reveals
A general diary entry from Parliament Street police station has revealed that the Rapid Action Force (RAF) fired pellet guns during a protest on July 20 on the orders of a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) rank officer. The diary entry, accessed by The Hindu, was filed by the RAF at 1:24 a.m. and documents the use of pellet rounds to control the crowd during a protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which was demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the entry, on the orders of the DCP, the RAF Deputy Commandant fired 55 rounds of non-electrical shell, 15 rounds of electrical shell, five tear smoke grenades, and two rounds using ballistic cartridges with plastic pellets from an anti-riot gun. This marks the first recorded use of pellet guns in the national capital against protesters.
At least four people were hit by pellets during the protest. Earlier reports from The Hindu on July 21 detailed two individuals who underwent surgery at government hospitals after being struck by pellets allegedly fired by RAF personnel. One of them, Sahil Lochab (19), risks losing vision in his right eye due to a pellet piercing his pupil, his family said.
Pellet guns and shock-batons are standard equipment of the RAF, the anti-riot unit under the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which was deployed alongside Delhi Police on July 20 near Jantar Mantar. The use of pellet guns has drawn criticism, with the Supreme Court hearing petitions on allegations of disproportionate force by police against protesters.
On July 27, retired Intelligence Bureau Special Director Yashovardhan Azad and two other victims of pellet gun injuries moved the Supreme Court, demanding a ban on the use of metallic or partly metallic kinetic projectiles fired from pump-action rifles for crowd dispersal. They also sought exemplary compensation for all victims of pellet injuries from the July 20 incident and assurance of complete medical treatment and rehabilitation.
