Overview
- The July 20 protest to march toward Parliament saw heavy crowd control by Delhi Police and CRPF Rapid Action Force units, after which at least three people were treated in government hospitals for injuries doctors and MLCs describe as pellet wounds.
- Medico-legal case reports from Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung and other government hospitals record punched‑out perforations, pellets lodged in tissue and explicit notes naming 'pellet injury marks' or 'suspected gunshot' at Jantar Mantar.
- Victims and eyewitnesses say officers aimed pellet fire and that pellets embedded in faces, eyes, necks and torsos, while hospitals reported surgeries to remove pellets and one patient faces possible vision loss.
- Delhi Police has denied using pellet guns, while the CRPF says it is verifying reports and has opened an internal inquiry to determine whether RAF personnel deployed pellet weapons; the Centre reportedly told forces to avoid pellet use at the site.
- The incident has legal and political consequences: the Delhi High Court has asked for official replies to petitions alleging excessive force, and the story revives past concerns over pellet‑gun harm and SOPs that require firing from distance and aiming below the waist.