Rahul Gandhi's six-and-a-half-hour sit-in ends after Delhi Police register FIR in pellet injury case

NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi staged a six-and-a-half-hour sit-in at the Delhi DCP's office on Friday, demanding that an FIR be registered on a complaint filed by 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, who was allegedly injured in a pellet gun firing during a student protest on July 20. The protest ended after the Delhi Police registered an FIR and handed over a copy of it to Sahil. Police also collected Sahil's medical reports and other related documents and assured a fair and thorough investigation.

The dramatic developments began around 11 am when Rahul arrived at Mandir Marg police station along with Sahil and his mother, Jyoti Lochab. Police initially did not accept the complaint.

Rahul then went to the New Delhi DCP's office at Parliament Street. After talks with DCP Sachin Sharma failed to produce a result, he came out of the office and began the sit-in protest.

Rahul began his protest at around noon. The DCP tried to persuade him to end the protest, but he remained firm on his demand for an FIR. Rahul sat on the ground with Sahil, while his mother also joined them. Police later provided them with chairs.

By around 2 pm, several Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Kumari Selja and Supriya Shrinate, joined the protest. Around 1,000 party workers also gathered at the spot.

The DCP later held another round of talks with Rahul and Priyanka. Police reportedly said that they could not register an FIR without approval from higher authorities.

Rahul later targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue. Holding up the pellets before journalists, he asked, “If the police did not use pellet guns, where did these pellets come from?”

Delhi Police confirmed at around 5.30 pm that an FIR had been registered. The protest ended at around 6.30 pm after the DCP handed over a copy of the FIR.

“The FIR is the first step towards justice,” Rahul Gandhi said.

BJP president and Union Minister J.P. Nadda, however, described the protest outside the police station while legal proceedings were under way as “political drama.”

Sahil had approached police three times

Sahil was allegedly injured in pellet firing during the 'Sansad Chalo' march organised by the Cockroach Janta Party on July 20 to protest against the alleged NEET examination question paper leak.

He first submitted a written complaint at the Mandir Marg police station on August 14, seeking an investigation, but it was allegedly not accepted. He approached the police twice more, but no action was taken. With his efforts to get the complaint registered yielding no result, Sahil eventually sought Rahul Gandhi's intervention.