“When I went to the CJP protest, I never expected I’d be shot [by a pellet gun]. I thought pellet guns were used only in Kashmir. I had gone to take part in the march to Parliament. Amid the tear gas shelling during the clash between protesters and police near Jantar Mantar, I was hit.”
These are the words of a 25-year-old protester who says he was shot by a pellet gun during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) Chalo Sansad march on July 20 near Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The Delhi resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, recounted the incident in a conversation with India Today Digital on Thursday and said his medical records from Safdarjung Hospital mention pellet wounds.
The protester spent a day in Safdarjung Hospital before he was discharged, and is currently recovering at home. All the pellets have now been removed from his body.
Not everyone seems to have been so lucky. A 19-year-old man who was hit by pellets is most likely to lose vision in one eye due to the injuries he sustained at the protest. The Indian Express reports on a man who has a pellet lodged precariously close to a blood vessel in the neck.
All these people had joined the march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament on July 20 in New Delhi, during which Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel allegedly used excessive force to control the crowd. On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court ordered the Delhi Police to preserve all video evidence from that day.
The protester also sustained pellet injuries to his back during the July 20 protest. (Image: Special Arrangement)
“I was moving around the protest site, where people had gathered at different locations. Near Jantar Mantar, one group was engaged in a confrontation with police. Stones were being thrown and the police were firing tear gas shells at the crowd,” the 25-year-old protester with pellet injuries told India Today Digital.
“I don’t know who started it. What I saw was the police firing tear gas shells one after another. A person standing right next to me was hit above the eye by a tear gas shell. Initially, the shells were being fired in the air, but when the clash intensified, they [the police and the RAF] started firing at the crowd directly, with horizontal gun barrels,” he explained.
The victim said he was not expecting that pellet guns would be used to control the crowd.
“Then, amid the ruckus at the protest site, I suddenly saw a policeman aiming a gun at me, so I tried to run. That’s when I was hit on my back and around my right elbow. If I hadn’t seen him aiming at me and run, I think I would have been hit in the face,” he said.
He said he did not feel the pain immediately, probably because of the adrenaline rush.
The medico-legal report of the protester who was hit by pellets during the July 20 protest in Delhi. The report mentions the usage of ‘pellet gun’. (Image: Special Arrangement)
MULTIPLE CASES OF PELLET GUN VICTIMS IN DELHI PROTEST
The Indian Express reported that 25-year-old Shaikh Irshad Mansoori sustained multiple pellet injuries during the July 20 clashes near the CJP protest and remained hospitalised at Lady Hardinge Hospital.
According to the report, doctors removed several pellets from his face and upper body, though one remained lodged near a major blood vessel in his neck. A friend accompanying him alleged that an RAF jawan fired at him near Palika Bazar in Connaught Place.
The Indian Express also reported the case of 25-year-old Irshad Shaikh, an MBA graduate working in Gurugram, who said he sustained multiple pellet injuries. Speaking from Lady Hardinge Hospital after undergoing surgery, Shaikh said multiple pellets hit his face and upper body, piercing his eye, cheek, nose, chin, neck, shoulder and chest.
A 19-year-old CJP protester who suffered pellet injuries during the July 20 march might lose vision in his right eye, with his family saying doctors have given him only a 1% chance of recovery, reported The Hindu.
‘HOT METAL PIERCED MY FLESH, IT FELT LIKE MY BACK WAS ON FIRE’
“At first, I was confused. I thought maybe this is what tear gas feels like. But after a few minutes, it felt like hot metal piercing my flesh. My back felt like it was on fire. Then I saw the wound. The blood was dripping,” the 25-year-old victim told India Today Digital.
“I was also surprised because I thought, was the police officer’s aim really that accurate? A lot of other people around me were also hit. But there was so much chaos that it took me 10-15 minutes to understand what had happened,” he said.
He said he rushed to Safdarjung Hospital by himself after realising that he was hit, where he was treated for the ballistic injuries.
He added that his hospital records mention a pellet wound.
“There were different forces there, including the Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police. Everything happened so quickly that I don’t remember the exact uniform of the person who fired at me,” he said.
The medico-legal report details the areas where the protester sustained pellet injuries. (Image: Special Arrangement)
DELHI POLICE HAS DENIED PELLET GUN USAGE AT PROTESTS
Delhi Police have denied the allegations of pellet guns’ usage at the Chalo Sansad march. In a statement posted on X, the Delhi Police said, “FACT CHECK. Claims stating that Delhi Police forces used pellet guns against peaceful protesters yesterday are completely false and misleading. Delhi Police neither possess pellet guns nor do they use them in the ongoing protest. The public is requested not to share or circulate any unverified or misleading information.”
The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) fact check handle on X wrote, “Social media posts are circulating a video claiming that police forces used pellet guns against peaceful protesters in Delhi. This claim is Fake. Always rely on official sources for verified information…”
WHAT ARE PELLET GUNS? WHY ARE THEY USED FOR CROWD CONTROL?
Pellet guns, also known as pump-action guns or riot shotguns, fire cartridges that release dozens of small metal pellets in a spread.
Unlike a single bullet, they disperse multiple pellets over a wide area. In India, they have primarily been used by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police as a less-lethal crowd-control weapon against violent mobs.
They were introduced in Kashmir after the 2010 unrest, in which more than 100 people died in police firing, as an alternative intended to reduce fatalities compared with live ammunition.
Standard operating procedures for the use of pellet guns describe them as a measure of last resort, to be used only after persuasion, warnings, water cannons, tear gas and other non-lethal methods have failed.
The guidelines call for firing from a distance, aiming below the waist and, in later versions, using deflectors to direct most pellets downward. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and related protocols also stress restraint and the use of minimum force.
A close-up of the protester’s elbow showing pellet injuries. (Image: Special Arrangement)
However, reports from Kashmir over the years have documented several instances where these protocols were allegedly not followed, resulting in serious injuries, particularly to the eyes.
Claims of pellet-gun use have also surfaced outside Kashmir. During the farmers’ protests in January-February 2024 at the Shambhu border in Haryana’s Ambala district, some protesters sought treatment for injuries they said were caused by pellet guns.
Farmers reportedly displayed marks they described as “pellet-like injuries”. Haryana Police, however, maintained that they had used rubber bullets only as a last resort after tear gas, water cannons and cane charge, and denied using pellet guns.
Some reports suggest that pellet guns were used in Manipur in 2023.
Allegations of their use elsewhere have been rare and disputed.
The claims from the July 20 protest near Jantar Mantar mark a rare instance of civilians in the national capital, and that too at the heart of the city, being injured by pellet guns. The exact number of people affected remains unclear. Delhi Police and the PIB continue to reject the allegations.
However, India Today Digital spoke to a person who says he was shot by pellets while trying to move away after seeing a policeman aim a gun at him, and says his medical records note a pellet wound.
– Ends
Published By:
Anand Singh
Published On:
Jul 23, 2026 19:15 IST
