Indian government forces used pellet-firing shotguns, grenades, batons and electric shock devices against demonstrators during a July 20 crackdown in New Delhi, according to an Amnesty International investigation.
More than 100 students were injured as thousands gathered near Parliament Street to demand the resignation of then-Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination-paper leaks and other irregularities. The government has denied using excessive force.
What Amnesty says happened in New Delhi
The Cockroach Janta Party, a satirical youth-led movement, called the march after a monthlong sit-in failed to remove Pradhan. Two days earlier, police had forcibly removed activist Sonam Wangchuk from a hunger strike, a move that intensified public anger. On march day, police used tear gas as the crowd grew, while Amnesty’s Evidence Lab verified footage and witness accounts showing electric shock batons and pellet guns being used.
Amnesty also found barricades, transport disruption and a communications blackout. The organisation said the weapons were deployed in ways that breached international law, domestic policing guidance and standards governing less-lethal force.
Evidence of pellet and grenade use
Videos and photographs showed protesters with injuries consistent with pellet wounds, and hospital records documented treatment for such injuries. Amnesty verified two videos showing a Rapid Action Force officer firing a shotgun into a crowd near Connaught Place and Parliament Street. The group said at least two protesters had injuries consistent with birdshot, which disperses many small metal pellets and carries risks to both targeted people and bystanders.
Amnesty also verified the use of tear gas grenades and lathis, or Indian batons. It said some grenades appeared to explode near students and were launched directly at protesters rather than along an angled trajectory. Videos also showed men in civilian clothing beating protesters while uniformed officers stood nearby; some officials lacked required name tags or badge numbers.
Government denials and political pressure
Delhi Police publicly rejected reports of pellet injuries as false and misleading, and the government maintained that security forces had responded in a measured way. Amnesty said its evidence directly contradicted the police account. A subsequent internal inquiry by paramilitary forces reportedly found that personnel had fired at least seven rounds containing metal pellets.
The crackdown triggered demands for accountability. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called on Home Minister Amit Shah to answer questions in Parliament and joined calls for his resignation. Gandhi also held a seven-hour sit-in outside the Delhi Police chief’s office alongside student Sahil Lochab, who said pellet injuries left him with severe vision loss and more than 200 pellets in his body. Police later agreed to register Lochab’s complaint.
Protests spread beyond the capital
Four days after the New Delhi march, protests spread across India. In Siwan, Bihar, police opened fire on demonstrators and injured at least three young people, according to the supplied account. The wider response has kept scrutiny on whether authorities used force proportionately and whether complaints from injured protesters will receive investigations.
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