NEW DELHI, AUGUST 21: A refusal by Delhi Police to register a case for a student demonstrator crippled by pellet ammunition sparked an immediate street protest led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday. The Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition took to the pavement outside the Parliament Street Police Station to demand an immediate investigation into the July 20 law enforcement response. The political standoff intensified after senior officers failed to provide case details or assign an investigating officer to the victim’s legal team.
The sit-in marks an escalation in a controversy that already paralysed the Monsoon session of Parliament. According to legal representatives, the victim, Sahil Lochav, has spent a week attempting to gain an official case acknowledgment after submitting a written complaint detailing cognisable offences. Gandhi actively intervened on Friday afternoon by escorting Lochav directly to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, moving across multiple stations after initial rejections at the Mandir Marg facility. The protest began when the administration continued to withhold basic case information from the legal team.
Public focus shifted heavily to the medical evidence of the injuries, which Gandhi previously detailed during a national media briefing. The opposition continues to maintain that the severe nature of the weapons used demands independent judicial scrutiny and a complete overhaul of how student demonstrations are handled in the capital city.
“The students were shot with pellet guns,” Gandhi said. “One boy who was shot with a pellet gun is most likely to lose his eye and may not be able to see. I have seen the AIIMS medical certificate, which shows that he was shot with pellet guns. Shock batons were used, not just normal lathis, lathis with nails. Where did the police get this idea from? My issue is that where our students, people who are open-minded, ask questions, were brutalised on the streets of Delhi. They were shot with pellet guns… I have seen the medical certificate, AIIMS medical certificate… You can see a police officer slapping a minor… The brutalisation of our students is a fundamental issue.”
