New Delhi: The injuries Shaikh Irshad Mansoori sustained while protesting near Connaught Place (CP) on July 20 look suspiciously like those of pellet victims we have seen earlier from Jammu and Kashmir. While Delhi Police has repeatedly denied using such weapons, the Rapid Action Force, or the Central Reserve Police Force that it comes under, has not commented on the matter – despite Irshad and his friends saying that it was an RAF jawan who used the weapon that caused the wounds on his face and neck.

The Wire has reached out to the IG, RAF, and this article will be updated when a response is received.

(You can read more about what happened to Irshad here.)

Irshad says that he was hit by pellets on his face, neck and shoulder, with some of them penetrating quite deep. The incident occurred near CP’s Palika Bazar, which can be confirmed using this video where Irshad can be seen bleeding while seated on a scooter near the Dosa Coffee restaurant in CP. Irshad’s video from hospital was recorded and posted by another victim of lathicharge admitted in the Lady Hardinge Medical College, and Irshad confirmed it to The Wire.

Irshad bleeding at CP.

Firing confirmed: On Instagram, we found a video posted where a Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawan can be seen firing at protesters using a gun around the same place where Irshad claimed he was hit. The video was uploaded by creator @shivamshorts002, who has been uploading videos from the protest site since July 3. In the video, he can be heard adding a commentary to the visuals, “See, they fired using a gun.” His other videos are of the same format; commentary over recorded videos.

Screengrab of the video by the creator Shivam with commentary, “See, they fired using a gun.”

Two independent sources, with........

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