Amnesty Probe Finds Unlawful Police Force During CJP-Led ‘Chalo Sansad’ Protests

One month after security forces used force against protesters during the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led “Chalo Sansad” march, Amnesty International has released a digital investigation alleging that police used weapons and tactics that breached international law, domestic policing guidelines and standards governing peaceful assemblies.

The investigation, based on witness testimony and video and photographic evidence verified by Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab, documents the use of pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas launchers, grenades, batons, electric shock devices and firearms against protesters in Delhi and Siwan in Bihar between July 20 and July 24. Amnesty International said it also verified two instances of a police officer unlawfully using lethal force against a crowd.

The findings come amid continuing questions over police accountability. Amnesty International said that, one month after the protests, not a single officer in Delhi has been held accountable. Delhi Police publicly denied any disproportionate use of force on X and repeated that position before the Supreme Court, describing its handling of the protests as “professional”. Amnesty International said the evidence it gathered directly contradicts that account.

What happened during the CJP-led protests?

The “Chalo Sansad” march faced several restrictions before and during the protests. Authorities denied permission for the march, imposed an internet shutdown around the areas where the protest was scheduled to take place, issued orders prohibiting gatherings of more than five people, closed multiple Delhi Metro stations and erected barricades across central Delhi.

Amnesty International said these measures raised concerns under international human rights law, which protects the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. Holding an assembly must not be subject to prior authorisation or permission. Where notification is required, it should only help authorities prepare to facilitate the assembly and must not be used as a means of further restricting the right to protest.

Amnesty International said the prohibitory orders were akin to a blanket ban on the entire march and did not meet the requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality. It similarly said the blanket internet shutdown imposed by authorities failed those standards.

According to Delhi Police, more than 400 people, including police personnel and protesters, were injured during the protests. At least three people were injured in Siwan, including a bystander who was shot and sustained a bullet wound to the neck.

Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab verified 17 videos filmed on July 20 in central Delhi across the area spanning Jantar Mantar, Sansad Marg and Connaught Place. It also verified two videos filmed in Siwan town on July 24. In the Delhi footage, personnel from Delhi Police, the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were identified.

Why is the use of pellet-firing shotguns significant?

One of Amnesty International’s key findings concerns the use of pellet-firing shotguns against protesters in Delhi.

The organisation verified two videos showing an RAF officer firing a shotgun into the crowd at the intersection of Connaught Place and Sansad Marg. This type of weapon can be used to fire lethal and less-lethal ammunition. Two other verified videos show two protesters near the same intersection with wounds consistent with those caused by birdshot, a hunting round that fires a large number of small metal pellets.

The weapons used are colloquially known in India as “pellet firing shotguns”. CCTV footage verified by Amnesty International also shows two RAF officers carrying shotguns among the crowd a few blocks away.

A protester who sustained pellet injuries told Amnesty International, on condition of anonymity:

“I was near Connaught Place and an altercation took place between the protesters and the police. Even then, most of the protest remained peaceful. RAF officials were using tear gas but then, without any warning, started using pellet-firing shotguns. I saw an officer standing roughly 300-400 metres away aiming the shotgun towards where I was standing. I started running in the opposite direction and that’s when I got hit on my back, otherwise I would have been hit on my face and chest. I had roughly 25-30 wounds and immediately went to the hospital. The doctors confirmed that they were pellet injuries. Thankfully, my bones have been saved but my body has been scarred badly.”

Birdshot ammunition was not developed for law enforcement purposes. Because the metal pellets spread when fired, the ammunition is inherently inaccurate and presents a high risk of serious injury to the person targeted as well as bystanders.

Amnesty International said the use of birdshot has been associated with deaths and multiple cases of blindness in Egypt, Iran and Jammu and Kashmir. It said birdshot has no legitimate use in law enforcement and must be explicitly prohibited for this purpose.

India’s Bureau for Police Research and Development has prepared the “Standard Operating Procedures to deal with Public Agitations with Non-Lethal Measures”. The procedures recommend that security forces warn protesters before using less-lethal or lethal force.

According to the protester interviewed by Amnesty International, no prior warning was given before the pellet-firing shotgun was used. International standards on the use of force also require law enforcement officials to use non-violent means before resorting to force. This includes issuing a clear warning whenever possible and giving people sufficient time to react.

Delhi Police responded to reports of pellet injuries on X with a “Fake News Alert”, calling the reports “completely false and misleading” and warning that “appropriate legal action” would be taken against anyone “spreading rumours”.

The Hindu reported that an RAF unit had fired “two ballistic cartridges loaded with plastic pellets” on the evening of July 20 on the orders of a Deputy Commissioner of Police. The report also said the unit had fired “55 non-electrical and 15 electrical crowd-control shells and five tear gas grenades”.

A subsequent internal CRPF inquiry reportedly found that RAF personnel had fired at least seven rounds of ammunition containing metal pellets. Separately, information obtained through a Right to Information request filed by Saket Gokhale, an All India Trinamool Congress spokesperson, showed that at least 10 people were injured by pellets during the protests.

How were tear gas, batons and electric shock devices used?

Amnesty International also documented the use of tear gas and batons against protesters.

One video verified by the organisation shows a tear gas grenade landing near a group of protesters and immediately exploding with a heavy blast. Amnesty International said tear gas grenades that release an excessive amount of explosive energy are extremely dangerous and should be prohibited for use in public assemblies.

Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that tear gas grenades were launched directly at protesters rather than at an angled trajectory above their heads. The organisation said this was at odds with UN Guidance on the use of Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement.

The use of tear gas should be limited to situations of widespread and serious violence. Amnesty International said there was no evidence available suggesting that protesters had reached that level of violence, although there were isolated incidents of protesters throwing stones. According to the organisation, such incidents would not meet the threshold for using tear gas.

Amnesty International also documented frequent misuse of long, flexible batons, widely known as lathis in India. It verified eight videos showing Delhi Police officers in khaki uniforms and RAF officers striking protesters with lathis, including a young boy who offered no provocation or sign of resistance.

In many instances, protesters were hit indiscriminately on different parts of their bodies. One video shows a man who had been knocked to the ground being struck repeatedly while he was unable to move or pose any threat.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture considers lathis inherently cruel, inhuman or degrading because they “deliver a greater level kinetic force than conventional batons, causing excessive pain and increasing the risk of serious injury”. The Special Rapporteur has called for lathis to be prohibited, a position supported by Amnesty International.

At least two videos also show men in plain clothes, including some wearing black helmets marked “Delhi Police” on the back, beating protesters with lathis. Uniformed officers escorted them towards the crowd and stood beside them without making any attempt to intervene.

Amnesty International said the absence of visible identification, such as name tags or badge numbers, on these individuals was itself a breach of the accountability principle. That principle requires law enforcement officials to be identifiable in any encounter involving the use of force.

The organisation also verified one video of an RAF officer using an electric shock baton on a peaceful protester. Direct-contact electric shock devices inflict severe pain without incapacitating a person and, according to Amnesty International, serve no legitimate law enforcement purpose that could not be achieved through less harmful means.

Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have called for an absolute prohibition on their use by law enforcement because of the risks of severe suffering, lasting disability, psychological harm and, with prolonged use, death. Amnesty International said Indian authorities should immediately withdraw these weapons from law enforcement personnel.

What happened in Siwan and what is Amnesty International demanding?

The investigation also examined the police response in Siwan, Bihar, where Amnesty International verified two videos filmed on July 24 showing a state police officer firing an AK-type assault rifle at protesters.

Firearms of this kind are designed to kill. In the context of assemblies, they may lawfully be used only to meet an imminent threat of death or serious injury to a specific individual and only as an absolute last resort.

Amnesty International said it had found no evidence that such a threat existed in Siwan and that the footage showed an instance of unlawful lethal force being used against protesters.

“Despite this body of evidence, the Indian authorities have made no public commitment to investigate or prosecute any officer involved. We call on Indian authorities to order a prompt, impartial and effective investigation into the use of firearms, birdshot ammunition, tear gas, lathis and electric shock weapons against protesters in Delhi and Siwan, and to publish its findings,” said Aakar Patel.

“The deployment and use of birdshot ammunition and direct contact electric shock devices must also end immediately.”

Amnesty International said the police response began with measures that restricted the ability of protesters to assemble, including the communication blackout, barricades and disruption to transport, before escalating to what it described as unnecessary or excessive force against peaceful protesters, including children.

“Instead of facilitating the right to protest, Indian authorities suppressed it first with a communication blackout, barricades and transport disruption. They then attempted to crush it with unnecessary or excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, including children. This heavy-handed response was state-sanctioned violence masked as crowd control. The continued impunity after a month is a testament to that,” said Aakar Patel, Chair of Board, Amnesty International India.

Amnesty International has called for a prompt, impartial and effective investigation into the use of firearms, birdshot ammunition, tear gas, lathis and electric shock weapons in Delhi and Siwan, with the findings made public. It has also called for the immediate end to the deployment and use of birdshot ammunition and direct-contact electric shock devices.

The findings build on Amnesty International’s earlier documentation of injuries, including blindness, and deaths linked to Indian authorities’ use of shotguns loaded with birdshot for crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir.

In August 2016, a seven-member committee set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs to explore alternatives to shotguns recommended that pellet-firing shotguns be used only in “rarest of rare cases”, but stopped short of recommending a complete ban.

In 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recommended that India immediately order an end to the use of pellet-firing shotguns in Jammu and Kashmir for the purpose of crowd control.

A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court of India seeking to decommission the use of pellet-firing shotguns by law enforcement agencies for policing assemblies.

Amnesty International has called for prompt, impartial and effective investigations into the use of firearms, birdshot ammunition, tear gas, lathis and electric shock weapons during the protests, with the findings made public.