Pellet deaths bust non-lethal claim

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Pellet guns used by security forces have killed at least two people during the latest round of violence that swept Kashmir, busting the myth

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Pellet guns used by security forces have killed at least two people during the latest round of violence that swept Kashmir, busting the myth that they are non-lethal weapons.

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Records of Srinagar’s Sri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital (SMHS) show that an unknown 20-year-old youth died of pellet injuries to his head on July 9. Another boy, Altaf Ahmad, died of pellet injuries to his chest the next day. Doctors said the pellets had punched holes in his heart.

A weapon of choice for the security forces currently battling angry locals, who have taken to the streets in the aftermath of last week’s killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, pellet guns have been as much in the news as the upheaval engulfing the state.

Pellet guns are loaded with lead that disperses in no set direction and in large numbers when fired. These pellets often pierce through the skin and eyes, causing significant damage.

As many as 177 people have received pellet injuries, including 95 who were hit in the eyes, triggering a public outcry. Many of the victims now risk losing their eyesight.

A senior security official told HT that pellet guns were not non-lethal, as largely believed. “They are less-lethal,” he said.

Currently used by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has about 200 such guns in Kashmir, and the state police, pellet guns are supposed to be used as the second-last option to control an agitated crowd. When every other measure such as baton charge, water cannons and rubber bullets fail, pellet guns are to be used. If that fails as well, the forces resort to firing live bullets.

However, locals say pellet guns are the first choice, not the second-last, for security forces in Kashmir. The CRPF has been using pellet guns in the Valley since 2010, after street protests that year resulted in the deaths of 100 people in firing by security forces. The force also recently began using such weapons in Maoist-affected areas such as Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Casualties there are, however, unknown.

Two senior police officials, however, have blamed the large number of casualties to lack of training and application.

“One needs just 7-15 days of training in police lines but that doesn’t generally happen,” one of them said. However, those who fire them on the ground are not necessarily the ones who were trained.

The standard operating procedure also requires an official of the rank not less than an assistant sub-inspector of police to use the weapon. But both officers said the pellet guns are handed over to constables for use.

The other official pointed out that the manner in which they are fired can also make a huge difference. “It is like a stone. If a stone hits the leg, it is non-lethal. If it hits the head, it can even cause death,” he said. Ophthalmologists say once lodged in the posterior part of the eye, pellets damage the retina and optic nerves and vision can never be recovered.