RAF fired pellet gun at protesters on the directions of a Delhi Police officer, document shows

Days after Delhi Police denied the usage of pellet guns during the July 20 march to Parliament, in which at least four persons were hit with pellets, a general diary entry filed at Parliament Street police station reveals that the Rapid Action Force (RAF) fired two rounds from an anti-riot gun on the directions of a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) rank officer of the police. The Hindu has accessed the general diary entry registered at 1.24 a.m. by the RAF.

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It says that to control the crowd during Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest, “on the orders of the DCP,” the RAF Deputy Commandant fired 55 rounds of non- electrical shell, 15 rounds of electrical shell, five tear smoke granite, two rounds using ballistic cartridges with plastic pellets from an anti-riot gun.

The Hindu reported on July 21 about two people, who were hit by pellets allegedly fired by RAF personnel, being operated upon at government hospitals. One of them, Sahil Lochab (19), risks losing vision in his right eye due to a pellet piercing his pupil, his family said.

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Pellet guns and shock-batons, are part of the gear of the RAF, the anti-riot unit under the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which was deployed alongside Delhi Police on July 20 in and around Jantar Mantar in the wake of the call given by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradesh.

This was the first time that a pellet gun has been used in the national capital against unarmed protestors. The Supreme Court is hearing several petitions on police using disproportionate force against protesters.

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On July 27, Retired Intelligence Bureau Special Director Yashovardhan Azad, and two other victims of pellet gun injuries — an artist and another professional, moved Supreme Court to demand decommissioning or banning the use of wholly or partly metallic kinetic projectiles / pellets fired from pump action rifles or projectile action guns (PAG) for the purpose of crowd dispersal of civilian assemblies by law enforcement agencies and grant of exemplary compensation to all victims of pellet injuries caused by the State action on July 20 as well as to ensure complete medical treatment, care and rehabilitation of the said victims.