The bestial was the term many used for the attacks unleashed by the forces, including the RAF and the Delhi Police, deployed at Jantar Mantar to force down the youth uprising, where proof of the use of weapons, like pellet guns, was found on one of the protesters, who was found with pellet wounds on his face and body, likely injured by a pellet gun or something similar.
Though Delhi Police repeatedly denied using pellet guns or similar weapons, wound marks found on Shaikh Irshad Mansoori, whose face and neck were found embedded with pellet-like projectiles, raised questions over the alleged use of weapons such as pellet guns against demonstrators.
Shaikh Irshad, a resident of Gurugram attending the protest for the first time, was admitted to Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Hospital, where he underwent a three-hour surgery on Tuesday to remove pellet-like objects pierced through his face and throat after being hit by mysterious weapons, according to The Wire. A selfie taken from his hospital bed reveals numerous small wounds scattered across his face and neck, injuries that appear consistent with pellets or a similar projectile.
According to Irshad’s friend, who was with Irshad during the incident, he was informed about the two fatal injuries, one beneath his eye and another in his throat, which could cause him to lose his eyesight, as he was made to sign a document acknowledging the seriousness of the injuries before surgery.
The friend said that both of them were near Connaught Place when Irshad was hit by the projectile used by an RAF personnel member approximately 40 to 50 metres away from them, claiming that neither of them had seen anyone else being hit by a similar weapon, though the injuries have fuelled allegations that pellet guns or comparable ammunition were deployed during the crackdown.
Irshad was one of the victims of the forces' excessive force who was visited by the Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda at Lady Hardinge Hospital on Tuesday, in a video in which the minister is seen offering comfort and presenting him with a basket of fruit.
Irshad told The Wire about how severe the pain was after the surgeries that removed the pellets. “I don’t know what has happened to me or what will happen,” he wrote on social media. “But my voice will be the same. My country is way more precious than myself.”
Delhi Police have categorically denied the allegations, calling claims of pellet gun use "false and misleading." Officials stated that the force does not use pellet guns for crowd control during such operations and dismissed the allegations as misinformation.