New Delhi : During his protest outside Delhi’s Parliament Street Police Station, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi held up a plastic bottle containing pellets that he claimed were recovered from the body of a 19-year-old protester. The youth was allegedly injured during the July 20 demonstration in Delhi against the NEET paper leak.
He underwent surgery, during which doctors reportedly removed multiple metallic pellets from his eye, leading to partial vision loss. This was the first time the pellets were displayed publicly. Only days after the protest, Gandhi had shown the injuries suffered by Lochab during a media briefing. Addressing the media outside the police station, Gandhi said the pellets were evidence of the firing and questioned the Delhi Police’s denial that its personnel had used pellet guns.
After officers refused to register the case, Gandhi staged a dharna outside the police station and said he would not leave until an FIR was filed. Senior Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jairam Ramesh have since joined the protest. Rahul Gandhi’s dharna comes weeks after allegations that pellet guns were used during the July 20 ‘Sansad Chalo’ protest.
Both the Delhi Police and the government have denied allegations that pellet guns were used to disperse protesters. In July, Gandhi introduced 19-year-old Sahil Lochab to the media, alleging that he had been hit by pellets fired by security personnel during a march to Parliament on July 20, the opening day of the Monsoon Session. First used against protesters in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010, Pellet guns and along with shock batons, are part of the equipment used by the Rapid Action Force (RAF), the riot-control wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
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