Pellet wounds found on some of the protesters: Medical reports

Wounds caused by metal pellets were found on the upper body of several injured farmers, according to medicolegal reports (MLR) issued by hospitals in Patiala, which HT has seen.

- Karam Prakash

The reports contradict contentions by Haryana director general of police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur, who denied the use of pellet guns, and said the Haryana police was using minimum force to control the agitating farmers on the Punjab-Haryana interstate borders.

Pellets, which are less than 3mm in diameter, are fired from shotguns and are usually of two kinds: bare metal pellets and rubber-coated metal pellets. These are usually used by the Army and paramilitary as a crowd-control measure, and as a practice, are aimed mostly on lower limbs. But the MLR reports of several injured farmers state that pellet injuries were found on their face and forehead too.

The disclosures come at a time when farmer groups, gathered in thousands at the Haryana-Punjab border crossings at Shambhu and Khanauri have paused their protests after the death of a 21-year-old protester at the latter.