"3 Pellets In Eye, 200 In Body": Rahul Gandhi Sits Outside Police Station, Demands FIR

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station on Thursday after accompanying a student who allegedly suffered pellet injuries during a protest in the national capital. Gandhi, along with 19-year-old Sahil Lochab and his family, approached the police station seeking registration of an FIR into the alleged use of pellet guns against student protesters. After police did not register the FIR, Gandhi and Lochab sat on a dharna outside the station and refused to leave.

Gandhi has been demanding accountability over the alleged use of pellet guns during a student protest at Jantar Mantar on July 20. According to Gandhi, Lochab was peacefully participating in the demonstration when he was allegedly hit by pellets, leaving his eyesight in one eye at risk. Gandhi displayed pellets that he said had been removed from the student’s body and referred to medical documents from Lady Hardinge Medical College and AIIMS, claiming they recorded more than 200 pellets lodged in Lochab’s body and three in his eye.

The Delhi Police has denied using pellet guns against student protesters. Police officials told Gandhi that the Supreme Court has already constituted a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee to examine allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by police and paramilitary personnel during the student protests. Gandhi, however, continued his protest, alleging that police officers told him an FIR could not be registered because there were “orders from the top”. He argued that regardless of who fired the pellets, the injuries represented a crime that required investigation.

Also Read: BJP Attacks Rahul Gandhi Over Delhi Dharna, Alleges Congress Is Undermining Police Procedures

Congress said it stood with the students and demanded justice, with Gandhi and Lochab joined by Lochab’s mother during the protest. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra later joined them outside the police station. Gandhi also reiterated his demand for answers on who authorised the alleged firing and had earlier written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking accountability over what he described as an attack on peacefully protesting students.

The protest drew a sharp response from the BJP, with Union Minister JP Nadda accusing Gandhi of engaging in what he called “cheap, attention-seeking politics”. Nadda alleged that the protest was intended to divert public attention from criticism facing the Congress over the Vande Mataram controversy. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also accused Gandhi of practising the “politics of anarchy”, claiming that an FIR had already been registered in connection with the incident and that the matter was being investigated.

The pellet gun controversy dates back to the July 20 student demonstration in Delhi, which was linked to demands for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper-leak issue. Gandhi had previously presented Lochab before the media and highlighted his injuries, alleging that security personnel had fired pellets at protesters. With the Supreme Court-appointed committee examining allegations of excessive force and the police maintaining that pellet guns were not used, the latest confrontation has intensified the political dispute over the treatment of student protesters.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi Visits Police Station, Seeks FIR Over Pellet-Gun Injury Claim