TMC Leader Accuses BJP of Covering Up Pellet Gun Use During Student Protest

Trinamool Congress joint secretary Derek O'Brien on Friday accused the ruling BJP of trying to "cover up" the issue of pellet guns being used on protesting students in Delhi on July 20. The remarks came as Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi sat on a dharna at the Parliament Street police station here and said he would not budge until an FIR is registered on a complaint by a youth who suffered pellet injuries during the Cockroach Janta Party-led July 20 protest. "Pellets. On August 10, an RTI filed by TMC's Saket Gokhale first revealed the truth about the pellet criminal conspiracy. Modi-Shah's beleaguered government still in cover-up mode," O'Brien said. The alleged use of pellet guns during the July 20 protest has since become a major point of contention, with opposition leaders demanding accountability over the injuries suffered by protesters and seeking registration of an FIR. Gokhale's RTI applications to four major central government hospitals in Delhi sought details of persons who sustained pellet gun injuries during the protest. Replies from Lady Hardinge Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital confirmed a total of at least 10 victims -- nine at Lady Hardinge and one at Safdarjung. AIIMS, however, declined to provide information sought under the RTI on whether any of the 96 casualty and emergency cases recorded on July 20 involved pellet, shot or projectile injuries. The hospital said 94 of the cases were medico-legal and eight patients were admitted, but refused to disclose the nature of the injuries, citing Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act and stating that disclosure could directly or indirectly lead to identification or tracing of the individuals concerned.