- Rapid Action Force used anti-riot guns twice during July 20 student protests in Delhi
- Delhi Police denied pellet gun use, but police diary confirms ARG deployment at Jantar Mantar
- RAF fired 55 non-electric, 15 electric shells, 5 tear smoke grenades, and 2 ARG rounds
Amid the crackdown on student protesters in the capital during a Parliament march on July 20, the Rapid Action Force used anti-riot guns at least twice, sources have told NDTV.
While Delhi Police has denied the use of pellet guns on the protesters, a general diary entry of July 22 at the Parliament Street police station seen by NDTV states that Rapid Action Force personnel deployed at Jantar Mantar on July 20 used anti-riot guns (ARGs) twice on the instructions of a DCP-rank officer of the Delhi Police.
The use of the controversial and potentially dangerous weapons on student protesters has become a major issue, with several protesters who sustained pellet injuries coming forward and accusing security personnel of firing pellets.
According to the diary entry, a company of RAF personnel deployed in Zone 1 of Jantar Mantar was working with the DCP of Delhi Police to control the crowd.
As the protests intensified, RAF personnel fired 55 non-electric shells, 15 electric shells, 5 tear smoke grenades, and two rounds from anti-riot guns.
The document states that the action was taken on the command of the DCP present.
It has been reported that ballistic cartridges with plastic pellets were used in these rounds and that at least four persons were injured.
Earlier, NDTV had reported that during a virtual meeting on Wednesday chaired by RAF Inspector General Seema Dhundhia, it was directed that Pump Action Guns (PAG), Anti-Riot Guns (ARG), Electric Shock Weapons and Electric Shields would neither be used nor issued until further orders in Delhi.
The IG had also told RAF personnel and officers that the "excessive use of force" during the protest at Jantar Mantar was "unjustified" and stressed that force must always be used in a graded and proportionate manner, in accordance with prescribed protocols and RAF training.
An investigation into the entire incident has already been launched within the RAF.
The anti-riot gun is considered a less-lethal crowd control weapon. It differs from traditional pellet guns but falls into the same category.
It uses cartridges containing plastic pellets rather than metal pellets fired from traditional pellet guns.
When fired, a single cartridge shatters into multiple fragments and can hit multiple people simultaneously.
Its purpose is to disperse a crowd, not to target a single individual.
The Opposition has been targeting the central government over the use of pellet guns on protesters and has been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament.
Meanwhile, the issue has also reached the Supreme Court. A petition was filed on Monday by a former IPS officer and two persons who claimed to have been injured by pellet guns fired during the protests.
The petition, filed by Yashovardhan Azad, Prashant Kumar and Sheikh Irshad Mansoori through advocate Vrinda Grover, sought directions for "decommissioning or banning the use of wholly or partly metallic kinetic projectiles or pellets, fired from pump action rifles or Projectile Action Guns (PAG) for dispersal of civilian assemblies by law enforcement agencies."
