Continue with your duties fearlessly, CRPF chief tells troopers amid pellet gun row

File photo: Rapid Action Force (RAF)

NEW DELHI: As personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF), a unit of CRPF, face questions for having fired pellet guns at anti-NEET paper leak protesters, CRPF director general G P Singh has come forward to support all his troops taking decisions and actions in bona fide discharge of their duties.Addressing personnel at CRPF investiture ceremony coinciding with its Raising Day Monday, Singh said, “As DG of CRPF, I want to assure each one of you that whether it is an operational battalion or law-and-order unit, whatever decisions you carry out in the bona fide discharge of your duties and which are aligned with interests of the public, the force and the nation, I shall take responsibility for all those decisions and actions. Continue to perform your duties fearlessly. Wherever responsibility or accountability needs to be taken, I will take as the director general”.As TOI reported on Wednesday, a CRPF post-event assessment has found that all standard operating procedures (SOPs) and laid down protocols were followed by RAF personnel during the police action against anti-NEET protesters on July 20.

In view of this, a source told TOI, no case may be made out against the RAF personnel for causing injuries to 3-5 protesters by firing the metal pellets. “Even if a case is registered against the RAF personnel under Section 117 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (voluntarily causing hurt), Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita will kick in, mandating grant of prosecution sanction with approval to the CRPF DG. At this point, the DG can justify the use of authorised force by RAF personnel, to deny prosecution sanction,” said an officer.CRPF probe into July 20 police action, as per sources, has concluded that the force gradient was followed, with pellet guns being used after lower-grade measures like crowd dispersal warnings, tear gas and lathicharge failed to control the unruly elements in the mob.As required by SOP, Delhi police DCP/ACP had, using his delegated authority as executive magistrate, authorised RAF in a signed format, to use civilian force, including firing pellet guns.