Pellet injuries: FIR filed after Rahul Gandhi sits on dharna

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police registered a case after leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi staged a five-hour dharna outside Parliament Street police station Friday, demanding an FIR in connection with pellet injuries suffered by 19-year-old Sahil Lochab during the July 20 Jantar Mantar protest, reports Abhay. Gandhi reached the police station with Lochab, his mother and their lawyer around 11.30am. He was later joined by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party functionaries, and met the DCP and other senior officers. Displaying Lochab’s medical reports, Gandhi said more than 200 pellets had entered the student’s body, including three that struck his eye and put his vision at risk. Some pellets, he added, were lodged near Lochab’s heart and could not be removed by doctors. He also displayed a pellet recovered from the student’s body during treatment. “Brutality against a peaceful protest is a serious crime. An offence has been committed and we are demanding registration of an FIR,” Gandhi said, alleging Delhi Police told them they had received instructions “from above” not to register the case. The charge was denied by police. After over five hours, Lochab’s complaint was filed and an FIR registered against unknown persons under sections 118(1) and 125 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means and acts endangering life or personal safety. Gandhi termed it “a first step towards justice”. Thanking him, Lochab said: “When he called to ask about my health, I mentioned that my FIR wasn’t being registered. He immediately said, ‘Let’s meet tomorrow; I will go and get your FIR filed.’ It took eight hours to get the FIR registered, and perhaps it wouldn’t have been registered at all if the LOP hadn’t supported me.” According to Lochab, he submitted a seven-page complaint to police on Aug 14 seeking registration of an FIR, but no action was taken. In his complaint, Lochab, a Najafgarh resident, said he had joined the July 20 Sansad Chalo march against the alleged NEET paper leak. He alleged that when the lathicharge and teargas firing began, he ran with the crowd towards Connaught Place, but as he approached Palika Bazaar and Connaught Place carrying the tricolour, he was hit multiple times by metal pellets fired by a person in a blue uniform carrying a large gun. Lochab stated that he suffered injuries to his right eye, face, arm and chest, and lost vision in his right eye. He was taken to Lady Hardinge Hospital and later referred to Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS. His first eye surgery was performed on July 22. He said his MLC recorded that the eye injury was caused by a pellet and that the chances of recovery were less than 1%. An AIIMS CT scan showed more than 200 pellets lodged in his body, including in his eye, neck, chest, jaw and arm, Lochab stated, adding some pellets near the eye nerve could not be removed. He underwent a second eye surgery on Aug 1, but his vision had not returned, he added. Lochab also said the injuries had disrupted his studies and ended his hopes of joining Delhi Police. In his complaint, he sought preservation of CCTV and drone footage, forensic examination of the pellets removed from his body and registration of an FIR.