Delhi , 21 Aug : The Delhi Police has registered an FIR in the case of a 19-year-old student protester who suffered pellet-gun injuries during the July 20 march on Parliament as Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by the victim, Sahil Lochab, staged a sit-in outside a Delhi police station, refusing to budge until an FIR is filed in the case.
“I will sit on dharna outside police station even for 30 days or six months if you don’t register an FIR,” Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had warned the cops.
The police have collected the medical report and other related documents from the victim and the FIR has been filed against unknown persons based on the complaint given by the victim, police said.
“It has been a month since the pellet gun was fired. It is clearly visible. We came here for this student and his mother,” Gandhi said after a copy of the FIR was given to him.
Turning to the victim’s mother, who also sat on the protest, Rahul Gandhi asked her,”Are you happy now?”
Rahul Gandhi showing the FIR copy to pellet-gun victim Sahil Lochab’s mother
The Delhi Police had earlier informed the protesting 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 as it refused to file the FIR.
While on 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 guns – which can spray dozens of small metal pellets, or birdshot, at a time, and can cause severe injuries – 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.
A pellet gun fires cartridges loaded with up to 600 metal or rubber pellets, which disperse in a widespread manner at speeds of 1,000 feet per second. 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.
As the sit-in dragged on for several hours, a waiting Rahul Gandhi, along with the victim, stepped in front of a swarm of cameras and microphones and held up a small pastic box.
Opening the box, he 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.
Where did they (pellets) come from? the Congress leader asked and then answered it himself.
“Ye inke shareer se aaye (These came from his body),” Gandhi said, urging the student to show the injuries.
The Student, who was wearing dark glasses, then rolled up his T-shirt 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.
He then flashed reports from Lady Hardinge Medical College and AIIMS, saying they detail that there are more than 200 pellets lodged in Sahil Lochab’s body.
Speaking to reporters, Lochab said that the alleged incident took place on July 20.
“On July 20, pellet guns were fired at me. I was admitted to Lady Hardinge, and from there, I was referred to AIIMS. I underwent surgery at AIIMS, but the vision in my eye is still not clear. On August 14, I wrote a seven-page complaint and gave it to my lawyer, but the FIR has not been registered,” he said.
His lawyer alleged that they were sent back and forth between Connaught Place Police Station and Parliament Street Police Station while trying to submit the complaint.
“On August 14, we went to the police station in Connaught Place. They told us that all Jantar Mantar cases had been transferred to Parliament Street Police Station. We came here, but they told us that the place of the incident falls under the Connaught Place area and that we should go there. We went back to them,” the lawyer said.
According to the lawyer, the police returned the complaint after reading it and made them wait for a long time.
“The SHO spoke to me personally on the phone and told me that they would not take up the case and that they had received orders from above,” the lawyer alleged.
