Delhi Police file FIR on pellet gun matter after Rahul Gandhi’s dharna over student’s complaint

Delhi Police were set to register an FIR on a complaint alleging that a student suffered pellet gun injuries during the July 20 Jantar Mantar protest, hours after Rahul Gandhi staged a dharna at Parliament Street Police Station, demanding action.

The Congress had claimed the police had earlier refused to register an FIR despite the student approaching them with a written complaint. Gandhi accompanied the student to the police station on Friday and demanded that the case be registered.

The development came shortly after Rahul Gandhi sat on a dharna outside the office of the deputy commissioner of police at the Parliament Street Police Station, alleging that the police had failed to act on the student’s complaint.

Rahul Gandhi had reached the police station along with the student, whose attempts to get a case registered had allegedly failed to elicit action.

“Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition, is on a dharna outside the DCP office, New Delhi, alleging that ‘Delhi Police refused to file FIR in the Pellet gun victim case’,” the Congress said in a post on X.

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. The party said the matter was followed up on August 17 through email and phone calls, but no action was taken.

The Congress further alleged that the police did not provide an acknowledgement or an I/O number for the complaint.

Gandhi accompanied the student to the police station on Friday to press for registration of the case. The Congress said the alleged offence was cognisable and therefore required the registration of an FIR.

The police action on Friday followed Gandhi’s protest at the station, with the Congress saying the complaint had now been converted into an FIR.

There was no immediate, detailed reaction from the Delhi Police to the allegations or the circumstances surrounding the case's registration.

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.