India's 'cockroach' protesters have wounds consistent with pellet-gun fire, say experts
Geeta PandeyBBC Correspondent, Delhi
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The face and body of Sahil Lochab, who appeared with opposition leader Rahul Gandhi at a press conference, are peppered with tiny holes
Independent ballistic experts have told the BBC that injuries sustained by some Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters during last week's protest in the Indian capital were caused by pellet guns.
Warning: This story contains images some might find distressing
Central Delhi witnessed overwhelming violence on 20 July when tens of thousands of protesters tried to march to the parliament to seek education reforms and the resignation of the education minister.
Police and paramilitary personnel were seen brutally attacking the crowds with wooden sticks, batons and tear gas. Delhi Police said 60 protesters and 118 of their personnel were injured. CJP said the number of injured protesters was a lot higher than the official count.
In the days following the crackdown, the government has not confirmed media reports that pellet guns were used on protesters.
But the BBC has been able to confirm at least four cases where protesters have been treated at hospitals for wounds that experts say are caused by pellet guns.
Pellet guns are shotguns designed for bird hunting. They fire cartridges, known as "birdshot", containing 200 to 400 small metal pellets. When used against crowds, the pellets spread out in a wide arc, striking people indiscriminately. These guns are banned in several countries.
We have spoken to two of the injured men who believe they were hit by pellet guns fired by security forces. We have also shown photographs and videos of them and a third man to two independent armament and forensic experts. A senior official at a hospital has confirmed a fourth man who also received treatment for pellet wounds.
The experts say the dozens of tiny round punctures are tell-tale signs of injuries caused by birdshot.
"The injuries depicted are definitely from a pellet gun," UK-based ballistics forensic scientist Philip Boyce told the BBC, adding that the weapon used is "a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun".
"These pellet injuries can actually be quite devastating, especially at close range. The injuries I see [in Delhi] are not at close range, they're at least 50 feet. But they can actually still be devastating and potentially life-threatening even from 100 feet," he said.
NR Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services (ARES) in UK, told the BBC that "images and video from the protests show the police using shotguns for crowd control" and photos of "injuries are strongly consistent with the use of birdshot".
"While shotguns are a common tool in the less-lethal arsenals of many states, Indian law enforcement agencies have a long history of employing shotgun cartridges loaded with small lead pellets - known as 'birdshot' - in crowd-control scenarios. When loaded with birdshot cartridges, shotguns are sometimes referred to as 'pellet guns'," he added.
"But these pellets are not safe. They can result in life-changing or, occasionally, life-threatening injuries. They also pepper the body with toxic lead, which can sometimes be difficult to remove safely," he said.
That's why many countries have either banned them or restricted their usage. In the UK, Boyce says pellet guns are widely used for shooting birds of prey and they're fairly freely available. But, he's "not aware" of any instance when they've been used for crowd control.
Shaikh Irshad Mansoori
Shaikh Irshad Mansoori said scans showed he had more than 40 pellets in his body
In Indian-administered Kashmir - where pellet guns have been used since 2010 - official data, compiled by Human Rights Watch, shows they have injured several thousand people, killed at least 17 and blinded dozens.
If it's confirmed that the forces used pellet guns in Delhi, this would be the first time that India would have used them on its citizens in its capital city.
Two of the young men we spoke to told us they were injured in Connaught Place - a major hub near parliament - after 4pm local time on 20 July.
Mohit (name changed) said when he saw a security personnel aim his gun at him, he turned around and began running in the opposite direction.
"Two-three seconds later, I felt a burning sensation on my right arm and back," the 28-year-old journalist told the BBC.
Mohit said he kept running as a searing pain coursed through his body until he reached a café, bought a bottle of water and washed his wounds. "That's when I saw the tiny circular holes on my arm and upper back. I was completely freaked out."
An X-ray taken at Safdarjung hospital, where he was treated for his wounds, shows tiny objects embedded in his arm and upper torso. Medical records that he has shared with the BBC show he has 26 pellet wounds on his right elbow and four on his upper right back. The notes include a diagram showing where the objects are lodged in his body.
Mohit said the doctors told him that surgery could worsen his situation, but he worries about the damage "they can do in future since they remain lodged in my body or whether the ugly scars would ever go away".
"But after seeing photos of other victims who've been hit in the face, I'm feeling fortunate," he says.
India cockroach protests: Videos of officers firing "pellet guns"
Shaikh Irshad Mansoori, who works at a Gurugram-based firm, was not so fortunate.
He was walking from Connaught Place to Jantar Mantar, the main CJP protest venue, when "the police and RAF [Rapid Action Force, a paramilitary force] personnel began beating the crowd with sticks and firing tear gas, causing a stampede-like situation and panic".
"I was with a group of protesters and we were raising slogans when an RAF personnel pointed his gun at us. We didn't think he would fire, but then I suddenly heard a cracking sound nearby and pellets hit me on my left eyebrow and my chin."
Some protesters tried to stem his bleeding with items of clothing, hailed a passing vehicle and took him to Lady Hardinge hospital.
He said scans showed he had more than 40 pellets in his body, including three embedded deep in his neck, left eye muscle and under his nose that doctors told him needed to be taken out.
"Surgeons next morning removed seven pellets, but they had to leave the one in the neck as it was too risky to be taken out. They told me it's now part of your body. They've assured me that it would not cause any danger in future."
More than 10 days later, Irshad says he's "still in some pain".
A senior hospital official told the BBC that Irshad's injuries were caused by "pellet-type small particles", but would not say whether they were fired from a gun. "That's for the forensics to say once they've examined these pellets," they said.
When the first claims of pellet gun use emerged last week, Delhi police called it "completely false and misleading". They said they did not even possess pellet guns.
Since then,Indian media has reported that the shots were fired by the RAF, which reports to the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The BBC has reached out to CRPF chief Gyanendra Pratap Singh and also sent him questions on email. He's yet to respond.
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A 28-year-old journalist, who did not want to be named, has shared his photos and X-ray with the BBC
On Wednesday,government minister Jitendra Singh said in parliament that no "bullets" were fired and only tear gas was used.But he did not comment on the use of pellet guns.
He was responding to allegations by Rahul Gandhi, Congress party MP and leader of the opposition in the lower house, who demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah be sacked since both the Delhi police and CRPF report to Shah.
Last Saturday, Gandhi addressed a press conference accompanied by Sahil Lochab, a 19-year-old Delhi University student, who may lose an eye to pellet injuries.
One side of Sahil's face and the back of his right arm are peppered with tiny holes. Gandhi lifted his T-shirt to reveal dozens more wounds on his underarm and body.
In a video chat with Gandhi and in media interviews, Sahil said he supported the CJP protest, which centred around the issue of repeated paper leaks of key exams, because he wrote an exam to join the police force last year which was cancelled because of the same issue.
He had gone to the protest with three friends but got separated in the chaos when police charged the crowd with batons. He was shot while marching towards the security forces with other protesters.
"I couldn't see who fired the pellet gun but it came from the side where the forces were," he said. "My right eye was swollen so much that it felt it had popped out of my face, I couldn't raise my right arm. I was bleeding profusely and some of the protesters took me to the hospital."
His family, he told Gandhi, had tried to dissuade him from going to the protest, but "I couldn't stop myself".
"I want justice. Whoever did this to me doesn't deserve to be in power," he said.
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Shaikh Irshad Mansoori
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