Rahul Gandhi stages dharna at Delhi police station until FIR filed over pellet injuries
The Congress leader sat for hours with 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, who has more than 200 pellets in his body from the July 20 protest; police registered the case after the sit-in.
New Delhi1 min read
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Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi staged a sit-in outside Parliament Street Police Station in New Delhi on Friday until police registered an FIR over pellet-gun injuries suffered by student Sahil Lochab.
Lochab, 19, was injured during the July 20 “Sansad Chalo” protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party over the NEET paper-leak issue. An AIIMS report stated that more than 200 metallic pellets remained in his body, three of them in one eye, causing loss of vision. Some pellets near the heart could not be removed.
Gandhi arrived with Lochab and his mother, first at Mandir Marg station and then at the DCP’s office. Officers initially refused to register the complaint, saying they had orders from above. Gandhi sat outside with the victim and said he would not leave until an FIR was filed.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Congress leaders later joined. After several hours, Delhi Police registered the FIR. Gandhi displayed a bottle of recovered pellets to reporters and asked who had fired if the police denied using pellet guns.
The protest ended once the case was lodged. The BJP described the sit-in as a political stunt. A high-powered committee and the Crime Branch were already examining aspects of the July 20 police action under a Supreme Court direction.
