CJP protest: RAF personnel allegedly used firearms on protesters at the behest of a Delhi Police official | Today’s news
The Rapid Action Force (RAF) reportedly used riot weapons against protesters at least twice during the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march on July 20, amid a police crackdown on the protesters.
Citing officials, PTI reported that a general diary entry at the Parliament Street police station at 1.24pm on July 22 recorded a report submitted by the deputy commander of the RAF.
What does the record reveal?
The recording states that Rapid Deployment Force personnel, dressed in their signature blue overalls and deployed in Zone 1 of the Jantar Mantar protest site, along with a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Delhi rank, fired twice from Anti-Room Weapons (ARG) on the officer’s instructions. The report comes despite Delhi Police denying that firearms were used against the protesters.
Officials said on Monday that the official record regarding the police action taken during the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march by protesters demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and responsibility for the alleged NEET-UG paper leak issue said RAF personnel fired several rounds of non-lethal ammunition, including two rounds of plastic pellets, to control the crowd at one location near Jantar Mantar.
Citing a station log, officials said the RAF fired 55 non-lethal grenades, 15 stun grenades, five tear smoke grenades, two rounds of ARG and two rounds of plastic bullets on July 20 on the instructions of the DCP.
One round of non-lethal plastic pellets contains four pellets and usually does not cause significant damage. Plastic pellets are different from metal pellets, which can penetrate the body, officials noted.
The development comes after several reports suggested that protesters sustained serious pellet injuries during a protest march called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) seeking Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as Union Education Minister over alleged irregularities in the education system that came to the fore after the NEET-UG paper leak incident in May. After a month-long protest, Pradhan resigned on 25 July and the protest was called off.
The police denied using pellets
According to the report, the Delhi Police said on record that claims of using pellets against “peaceful protesters” were completely false and misleading.
The report added that several RAF personnel and personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were also injured during the protest.
CRPF Director General (DG) GP Singh said, “Now that the agitation has been called off and the gathered people have dispersed, we would do a professional assessment after the event, as we do after any major task, and then convey the view of the Force Command (Headquarters).
Earlier on Monday, The Indian Express, citing a CRPF probe, reported that an RAF personnel deployed in New Delhi’s Connaught Place area fired at least seven rounds from a pellet gun. While five of these rounds hit the protesters, two hit the ground.
After the march and several protesters claiming to have suffered serious injuries, the CRPF launched a probe into whether personnel used firearms.
The allegations and official records have led to renewed scrutiny of the police response during the “Chalo Sansad” protest, although the investigation is ongoing.
