Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi sat on a dharna outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police at Delhi’s Parliament Street Police Station on Friday, protesting an alleged refusal to register an FIR on a complaint by a student who the Congress said suffered pellet-gun injuries during last month’s protests demanding education reforms.
Gandhi reached the police station with the student, whose efforts to get a case registered had failed to elicit action, according to the Congress.
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“Today, I went to the DCP office at Parliament Street to file an FIR against the police brutality faced by Sahil Lochab. On July 20, the police attacked Sahil, who was peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar, with a pellet gun. Severely injured by the pellets, Sahil's vision in one eye is now at risk,” Gandhi wrote on X.
{{/usCountry}}“Today, I went to the DCP office at Parliament Street to file an FIR against the police brutality faced by Sahil Lochab. On July 20, the police attacked Sahil, who was peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar, with a pellet gun. Severely injured by the pellets, Sahil's vision in one eye is now at risk,” Gandhi wrote on X.
{{/usCountry}}He added, “Now, when Sahil wants to file an FIR for justice, even that is not being allowed. In this way, the Constitution and constitutional rights are being trampled upon.”
There was no immediate reaction from the Delhi Police to the allegations.
What is the case?
The Congress alleged that the student, accompanied by his lawyers, submitted a written complaint to the Delhi Police on August 14 and followed up three days later, but no action was taken.
The party said Gandhi accompanied the student to the police station on Friday to press for action, but the DCP did not provide an I/O number. The Congress said the alleged offence was cognisable and therefore required registration of an FIR.
Pellet guns row
The alleged use of pellet guns during the July 20 CJP protest has become a major point of contention, with the opposition and CJP stepping up pressure on the Delhi Police over its handling of the protests.
While there has been no official confirmation of pellet-gun use against protesters, an entry in the Parliament Street Police Station's daily diary, as reported by Hindustan Times, recorded the use of anti-riot guns and plastic pellets by Rapid Action Force personnel during the protest.
The entry said RAF personnel used two rounds from anti-riot guns and two rounds of plastic pellets while attempting to control the crowd.
The issue has triggered demands for an independent probe into the police response to the protests, particularly allegations that students were injured by pellets and other crowd-control measures.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court constituted a five-member high-powered enquiry committee headed by former judge Justice R Subhash Reddy to examine allegations of police excesses during the protests.
The panel will look into allegations involving pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges, tear gas and other crowd-control measures.