Delhi Police registers FIR over student's alleged pellet injuries after Rahul Gandhi's six-hour dharna
Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Sahil Lochav show the FIR copy after Delhi Police registered an FIR on Lochav's complaint as he had suffered pellet gun injuries during the Jantar Mantar students' protest Photograph: (ANI)
Delhi Police registers FIR over Sahil Lochav's alleged pellet injuries at Jantar Mantar protest after Rahul Gandhi's six-hour dharna
Delhi Police on Friday registered an FIR on a complaint alleging that student Sahil Lochav suffered pellet gun injuries during the July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar. The FIR was registered hours after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi staged a dharna at Parliament Street Police Station, demanding action on the complaint. The Congress had alleged that police initially refused to register an FIR despite Lochav approaching them with a written complaint. On Friday, Gandhi accompanied the student to the police station and pressed authorities to take action.
After the FIR was registered on Lochav's complaint, Gandhi and Lochav showed a copy of the FIR to media persons. Gandhi subsequently ended his more than six-hour dharna outside the Parliament Street police station. Earlier on Friday, Gandhi had sat on a dharna outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police at Parliament Street Police Station, alleging that Delhi Police had failed to act on the student's complaint. “Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition, is on a dharna outside the DCP office, New Delhi, alleging that ‘Delhi Police refused to file FIR in the Pellet gun victim case’,” the Congress said in a post on X.
What is the case?
According to the Congress, Lochav, accompanied by his lawyers, submitted a written complaint to Delhi Police on August 14. The party claimed that the matter was followed up on August 17 through email and telephone calls, but no action was taken. The Congress also alleged that police neither provided an acknowledgement of the complaint nor an I/O number.
Gandhi accompanied Lochav to the police station on Friday to demand registration of the case. The Congress maintained that the alleged offence was cognisable and that an FIR was therefore required to be registered. The police action came after Gandhi's protest at the station, with the Congress saying that the student's complaint had subsequently been converted into an FIR. There was no immediate detailed response from Delhi Police addressing the allegations or explaining the circumstances surrounding the registration of the case.
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Pellet gun controversy
The alleged use of pellet guns during the July 20 CJP protest has emerged as a major point of contention, with the opposition and CJP increasing pressure on Delhi Police over its handling of the demonstrations. There has been no official confirmation that pellet guns were used against protesters. However, an entry in the Parliament Street Police Station's daily diary, as reported by Hindustan Times, recorded the use of anti-riot guns and plastic pellets by Rapid Action Force personnel during the protest.
According to the reported diary entry, RAF personnel fired two rounds from anti-riot guns and used two rounds of plastic pellets while attempting to control the crowd. The alleged injuries have led to calls for an independent investigation into the police response, including claims of pellet injuries as well as the use of other crowd-control measures.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court constituted a five-member high-powered enquiry committee headed by former judge Justice R Subhash Reddy to examine allegations of police excesses during the protests. The committee will examine allegations concerning pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges, tear gas and other crowd-control measures.
