JOIN USThe Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday set up a seven member expert panel headed by a joint secretary-level officer to explore possible alternative to controversial pellet guns.
The decision came after Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Lok Sabha last week that a panel will look into possible alternatives for pellet guns, whose use in Jammu and Kashmir had evoked criticism following several protesters getting injured, with many losing eye-sights.
The panel headed by Joint Secretary in MHA, T V S N Prasad, has been asked to submit its report within two months.
The other members of the committee are CRPF Inspector General (Srinagar) Atul Karwal, BSF IG (Operations) Rajeev Krishna, IPS officer Rajesh Kumar of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Deputy Director General (Small Arms) in Ordnance Factory Board Tushar Tripathy, Director of Chandigarh-based Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) Dr Manjit Singh and Professor in IIT Delhi Dr Naresh Bhatnagar. The firing from pellet guns had resulted in scores suffering eye injuries during the recent protests in Kashmir, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen's self-styled commander Burhan Wani earlier this month.
CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad on Monday expressed regret over injuries caused due to pellet guns.
However, he said it was the “least-lethal” weapon and would be used only in “extreme” situations.
He also said they were looking at alternatives.
CRPF alone had fired 2,167 pellet cartridges during the recent protests besides firing 4,821 smoke shells, 892 tear smoke grenades, 1,048 rubber bullets, 103 multi button shells and 1,614 plastic pellets.