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Jantar Mantar protest: Medical reports show injuries, but CRPF, police silent on ‘pellet gun’ use
Delhi Police officially denied using pellet or rubber guns. “The RAF has anti-riot gear that includes a pellet gun," said a senior Delhi Police official.
Did security forces use pellet guns to target protesters during sweeping street protests in Delhi on July 20?
Sheikh Irshad Mansuri, a 25-year-old employee with a private firm, Nootan Toppo, a 32-year-old woman from Gurugram, a 28-year-old reporter, and the family of 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, a student aspiring to join the police force, say so.
HT has seen the medico-legal case (MLC) report of Toppo and the reporter who requested anonymity.
Toppo’s MLC – issued by Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital – mentioned that she suffered “a suspected gunshot injury”. Toppo alleged she was hit with a “rubber bullet”, HT reported on Thursday.
The reporter’s MLC – issued by Safdarjung Hospital – showed injuries on the man’s waist and hands and called it “pellet injury marks”. The MLC also said “physical assault with pellet gun at Jantar Mantar at 4 pm”.
HT spoke to the reporter, who said doctors told him he had “suffered multiple pellet injuries”.
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Mansuri, who was admitted in Lady Hardinge Medical College, said he didn’t know what hit him but added that doctors told him he was hit with pellets. “I have undergone two surgeries to remove pellets lodged in my neck and face,” he said. The hospital hasn’t released his MLC, he alleged.
Lochab’s maternal uncle Ajay said his nephew underwent surgery at AIIMS and was awaiting another. “The doctors told us that Sahil suffered a pellet injury in his right eye. Surgery was done to remove pellets from his pupil; another surgery is going to be done on the sclera part of Sahil’s eye to save it,” Ajay said, adding that he may lose vision in one eye.
None of the four hospitals responded to requests for a comment.
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Delhi Police officially denied using pellet or rubber guns. “The RAF has anti-riot gear that includes a pellet gun. They may have carried it during the protest but we can’t comment on CRPF and their weapons,” said a senior police officer at Delhi Police headquarters.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) – of which the Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a part – refused to comment.
“RAF is mandated to carry anti riot gear that includes pellet guns. They may have used it to control crowds,” said a senior CRPF official, requesting anonymity.
If confirmed, this is the first use of pellet guns – which have so far been used in Jammu and Kashmir – in the Capital.
Three of the four people – Toppo, Mansuri and the reporter – were in the stretch between Janpath metro station and Connaught Place on July 20 and were hit between 3pm and 5pm, according to their statements.
Toppo, a resident from Gurugram who works at a private firm, underwent surgery on her right ear at RML hospital on the evening of July 20. The patient was treated at the surgery department as per hospital records dated July 20. The MLC said the patient “presented with a previous history of injury in the right side of the ear, a suspected gunshot injury.”
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Describing other conditions at the time of her arrival, the MLC said she came with trauma to the right ear, bleeding, chest pain, seizure, loss of consciousness, and vomiting. In the section of “treatment/ operation notes” the document added, “done by plastic surgeon team” and advised the patient ENT specialist attention.
“At the time of the incident, we all were running, and had reached close to a metro station. Police were already throwing tear gas shells at the public and firing a gun. I saw them using the gun. As soon as I saw this, and before I could run to save myself, a rubber bullet hit my ear,” Toppo said.
“I saw a portion of my ear with my earring torn out and fall on the ground. I was screaming in pain, covered with blood when other protestors came to help me. I also saw a man near me was also hit on his neck,” she added.
Her treatment is still continuing at RML hospital. “My MRI is done, we are waiting for the reports to come,” she said. For the past two days, she has had trouble hearing in one ear, she said.
The 28-year-old reporter said the forces were first firing tear gas shells.
“I saw a security personnel aiming a weapon at me. I just turned around and ran to save my life. But he fired and something hit my waist and hand. Some protestors helped me and I went to Safdarjung Hospital. Doctors told me I suffered multiple pellets and they can’t surgically remove it since there are many,” he said.
His MLC showed injuries on the man’s waist and hands and called it “pellet injury marks”. The MLC also said “physical assault with pellet gun at Jantar Mantar at 4 pm”
Mansuri said doctors told him that they removed pellets from his neck and face.
“I was attacked around 4-4.30 pm near McDonalds in Connaught Place. A tear gas shell exploded in front of me and I could not see anything. I was crying when something else hit my face, neck and chest. It felt like my face was on fire and I would choke to death. The police treated us like terrorists,” he said.
He alleged the doctors had not provided Mansuri or his friends with the MLC. The hospital didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Lochab’s kin said he had convinced the family that he will travel from the family home in Najafgarh to Jantar Mantar.
His uncle Ajay said that Lochab was first taken to Lady Hardinge Medical College before being referred to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
“At Lady Hardinge, because there is no eye surgeon specialist, they referred him to AIIMS….“The doctors have told us that Sahil has suffered a pellet injury in his right eye. They explained to us that there was a pellet that had pierced his eye. They had removed the pellet but because the pellet had penetrated it has caused scratches in the eye for which another surgery has to be done,” Ajay said.
The eldest among three brothers, Lochab’s mother does odd jobs and father drives a private cab.
The pellets lodged in the right side of Lochab’s body from face to abdomen in bursts were too many for doctors to remove, said people aware of the matter, adding that he had multiple pellet perforations on his right side, including one lodged in the chest, near his pericardium, and another inside his abdominal wall.
Pellets are also lodged in the right eye orbit, neck, chest — one close to the heart — right shoulder, and arm, according to the people cited above.
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