The Delhi Police on Friday registered a first information report (FIR) in the case of 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, who allegedly suffered pellet injuries during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest, hours after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in outside the Parliament Street Police Station. However, no individual has been named as an accused in the FIR.
As per the latest information, the police registered the FIR under Sections 118 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Section 118 deals with voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt using dangerous weapons or means, while Section 125 concerns acts endangering the life or personal safety of others.
How The Dharna Unfolded
The drama unfolded in the early hours of Friday when Gandhi, accompanied by a few Congress leaders and Lochab, reached the Connaught Place Police Station after the 19-year-old alleged that Delhi Police had refused to register an FIR. However, after being informed that New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma was at the Parliament Street Police Station, they soon headed there.
Visuals show Gandhi, decked up in his white T-shirt and light-brown pants, walking into the police station, taking the officials by surprise. He first pressed the officials to register the complaint; however, as the officials refused, he began his sit-in outside the police station. He also said that he would not end his sit-in until the officials agreed to register Lochab’s complaint.
“Three pellets were lodged in his (Lochab) eye, and 200 in his body. There are shells near his heart that cannot be touched. Delhi Police say they did not fire pellet guns. Who fired pellet guns if not cops? Police said they had orders from the top not to file an FIR on the complaint of the victim,” Rahul told the media. He also showed the metallic pellets recovered from the student’s body.
Congress Leaders Join The Protest
Chaos soon erupted in the police station as Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kumari Selja, Jairam Ramesh, and Randeep Surjewala joined Rahul Gandhi in the protest and barged into the station. Several other leaders, like party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Khera, tweeted in support of Rahul Gandhi.
“The youth of this country has been made to do one thing: wait. Even for something as basic as getting an FIR registered after losing his eye. Why? Because Amit Shah is running away from accountability. Such a runaway Home Minister, such a coward — India has never seen,” Khera wrote on X.
Also Read:CJP Threatens To Protest In Jaipur If Attackers Not Arrested
Kharge, on the other hand, took an indirect jibe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP, calling them the “biggest enemy of the nation’s youth.”
“Those shedding crocodile tears over nationalism are, in reality, the biggest enemies of the country’s youth! Amit Shah didn’t show up in Parliament for 19 days. The country wasn’t told who ordered the firing of pellet guns on students and why such brutality was even necessary against our youth? Now, Sahil, who was seriously injured by the pellets, and his mother are running around in circles with the Delhi Police to file an FIR. No Daily Diary Number, no acknowledgement, no MLC report from AIIMS,” Kharge wrote on X.
First Step Towards Justice: Gandhi After FIR Was Filed
As the FIR was registered after his hours-long dharna, Gandhi said that it was the first step towards justice for the boy. He also alleged that the delay in registering the FIR went beyond the police station, claiming that the final approval had to come from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Home Secretary.
“The final approval the ultimate ‘okay’ had to come from the Home Secretary and Amit Shah himself. Only then was the FIR finally issued,” Gandhi said.
He further alleged that the police officers at the station were willing to register the case but were being prevented from doing so. “These police officers wanted to register it; the others wanted to do it too, but the brakes on justice were being applied from the top,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi questioned the state of access to justice for ordinary citizens, pointing to the difficulty of getting an FIR registered even at a police station in the heart of the national capital. “Imagine what must happen at a police station in a village or a small town,” he added.
Following the registration of the FIR, Gandhi, along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, left the police station after an almost six-hour-long sit-in protest.