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‘How do they explain this?’: Dipke has another question on CJP Jantar Mantar protest
Abhijeet Dipke claimed that both protesters were agitating peacefully at Jantar Mantar, when they were allegedly “hit by pellets fired by the police”.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday said that he spoke to two alleged victims of pellet gun fire from the July 20 parliament march, asking the police and the government to explain their injuries.
Dipke claimed that both protesters were agitating peacefully during the CJP’s Jantar Mantar protest, when they were “hit by pellets fired by the police”.
“Spoke to Sahil and Vikas, two victims of pellet-gun injuries from 20 July. The police and the govt deny brutality, but how do they explain this? Sahil and Vikas were protesting peacefully when they were hit by pellets fired by the police,” Dipke wrote on X.
Dipke said that Sahil told him that he had appeared for the Delhi Police exam in 2025, which he alleged was leaked.
“He is a political science student and used to work part-time to support his family of five, as his father has a disability. He says there are still pellets lodged in his eye, and he has lost vision in one eye. He is now unable to work and support his family. If this is not brutality, can the govt explain what is?” he further wrote.
Police on Friday lodged a first information report (FIR) against unknown people on a complaint by Sahil, a Delhi University student with pellet injuries during the July 20 protests, after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accompanied the 19-year-old and sat in protest outside a police station for more than six hours.
At least four persons with alleged pellet gun injuries
HT has earlier reported three other alleged cases of pellet-like injuries received by Sheikh Irshad Mansuri, a 25-year-old employee at a private firm; Sahil Lochab, a student aspiring to join the police force; and a 28-year-old reporter who did not wish to be named.
Prashant, a 25-year-old Bihar resident who spoke to Dipke, had earlier told HT that he thought he would lose his arm after allegedly suffering pellet injuries on July 20.
“When those pellet-like things hit my hand, I thought I was going to lose my arm forever. I could not feel it for hours,” said Prashant, who lives in Delhi and was injured near the Jantar Mantar protest site. He was rushed to Lady Hardinge Hospital and treated for his injuries.
His discharge paper, accessed by HT, reads: “Multiple pellet injuries to the right upper limb, chest and inguinal region.”
“I was following the movement on social media from the beginning and visited the Jantar Mantar. On July 20, I also went to the protest to participate in the march,” said Prashant.
“Around 4 pm, police used tear gas to disperse students around Jantar Mantar. I was already hit by lathis. Within minutes, my friend and I, along with other protesters, had reached the Palika Bazar area near the Gandhi Charkha installation. There, many protesters were cornered by police personnel. There was tear gas shelling and firing, and I tried to run away from there as well. That is when these pellets hit me on different parts of my body. My friend then rushed me to the hospital,” he told HT.
There, he was treated and discharged the same day. “When I reached home, my friends saw my wounds, and we researched online. We then figured out that these wounds were very similar to pellet wounds,” he said.
“It was then that I checked my discharge papers from the hospital, where it was also mentioned that these were pellet wounds,” Prashant added.
His discharge summary says he was brought to the hospital around 4:30 pm.
Under the section of “history and examination”, the summary says, “the patient has pellet injuries to the right upper limb, chest and inguinal region with first-degree severity.”
Prashant further said, “For days, I did not tell my family that I had these pellet-like wounds because I was worried they would get tense.”
Supreme Court constitutes a panel
The Supreme Court on Thursday constituted a five-member committee headed by its former judge R Subhash Reddy to conduct an independent inquiry into allegations of violence during the July 20 student protests while looking into far-reaching issues such as pellet gun use, mandatory uniforms for law enforcement personnel during crowd control, blanket prohibitory orders, the legality of police surveillance, and whether a BNS provision was stifling dissent.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said the competing allegations made out a prima facie case for an independent and impartial investigation into allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by police and security personnel during the July 20 student protests, while also examining claims of violence against police personnel and damage to public property.
The committee comprises justice (retired) R Subhash Reddy, former Supreme Court judge, as chairperson; justice (retired) Ravi Shankar Jha, former chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court; justice (retired) Shalinder Kaur, former Delhi high court judge; Rishi Kumar Shukla, former Central Bureau of Investigation director; and LR Bishnoi, retired director general of police, Meghalaya.
General diary entry records show at least two rounds of pellet fire
According to the statement of a deputy commander of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) recorded in a general diary entry at the Parliament Street police station, at least two rounds of pellets were used on July 20 on the orders of a deputy commissioner of the Delhi Police.
The diary entry – filed at 1.24am on July 22 by a Delhi Police sub-inspector and seen by HT – was the first document that showed the usage of pellets during a sprawling student march to Parliament on July 20.
“...Dated 20/07/2026 DC Satish Kumar Sangwan deputy commander B 108 RAF sahab came to the DO office and said that [he] was on duty with Zone 1 Jantar Mantar DCP North Raja Bhatiya on whose orders Non Electrical shell – 55, Electrical – 15, Tear Smoke Grenades – 5, ARG – 2 BC, 2PP were used to curb the crowd during the CJP protest,” read the general diary entry in Hindi, with numbered 0008A, carrying the signature of the sub-inspector and the seal of the Parliament Street police station.
ARG stands for anti-riot gun, BC is ballistic cartridges, and PP is plastic pellets. RAF is a specialised unit within the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) deployed to handle riots and other public disturbances across the country.
