The Delhi Police will register a First Information Report (FIR) concerning a 19-year-old student protester, Sahil Lochab, who was injured during a march on Parliament on July 20. This decision follows a sit-in led by Rahul Gandhi outside a Delhi police station, where he stood alongside Lochab, demanding that the FIR be filed before leaving the site.
The police have collected the medical report and other related documents from the victim and the FIR is based on the complaint given by the victim, sources have told NDTV.
The Delhi police has denied the use of pellet guns – which can spray dozens of small metal pellets, or birdshot, at a time, and can cause severe injuries – on student protesters. The CRPF is silent on its use during the Delhi protests. 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.
“I will sit on dharna outside police station even for 30 days or six months if you don’t register an FIR,” Rahul Gandhi had warned the cops. The police have collected the medical report and other related documents from the victim and the FIR is based on the complaint given by the victim, sources have told NDTV. Rahul Gandhi posted on X that “on July 20 the police attacked Sahil, who was peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar, with a pellet gun” While on dharna. As a result, Gandhi said, Sahil’s “vision in one eye is now at risk”.
