Panel favours chilli-filled grenades

A committee, set up to find alternatives to pellet guns in the Valley, suggested use of chilli-filled grenades and ‘stun lac shells’ to control mobs.

Pellet guns are, however, unlikely to be completely banned but will be fired in “rarest of rare cases”.

The seven-member expert committee, headed by Joint Secretary in the home ministry T V S N Prasad, submitted its report on Monday.

The panel was constituted after scores of protesters were blinded by the use of pellet guns in the Valley. However, officials did not elaborate about the findings of the expert committee.

Sources said Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA), also called Nonivamide, and other non-lethal ammunition like ‘stun lac cells’ and Long Range Acoustic Device (LARD), which create deafening noise to paralyse people were understood to have suggested as possible alternatives to the pellet guns.

However, LARD is likely to be used in rural areas as it could prove dangerous for old buildings in downtown Srinagar.

Senior government functionaries arrived at this conclusion after extensive consultations with security forces and examining the ground realities in Kashmir.

‘Rarest of rare cases’
The option of firing pellet guns will remain but these will be used only in rarest of rare cases, an official spokesperson said.