Alappuzha (Keralam) [India], August 21 (ANI): AICC General Secretary and Congress MP KC Venugopal on Friday alleged that the Centre was “running away” from questions raised by students over the July 20 Jantar Mantar protest and accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of “continuing a hunt for students”.
Speaking to reporters here, Venugopal said, “Understand the state of this nation. On the 20th of July, the most brutal violence was unleashed against students protesting peacefully at Jantar Mantar. The Delhi Police executed a reign of terror against the students using pellet guns. Who gave the permission to use pellet guns is the question we asked throughout the last Parliament session.”
“Unable to answer this question, Amit Shah was running away. A student named Sahil, who was injured by pellet guns, filed a complaint at the police station. However, even after a week, no case has been registered,” he alleged.
Venugopal further said that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi took the injured student to the police station near Parliament and demanded registration of an FIR.
“Finally, the Leader of the Opposition of the country took that student to the police station near the Parliament building and demanded that an FIR be registered on the complaint filed by the student. The police said that even this reasonable demand would not be accepted,” he said.
“It is clear that the police said this because Amit Shah gave instructions to do so. Why is Amit Shah continuing this hunt for students? The Prime Minister and the Home Minister are running away from the questions of the students,” Venugopal alleged.
He added, “Today, the nation witnessed the Leader of the Opposition standing in front of the police station with those questions. The Leader of the Opposition is sitting in protest in front of the police station to get justice for the students. We will withdraw only after getting an answer.”
Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress leaders and Sahil Lochav, who has alleged that pellet guns were used against him during the July 20 protest, staged a sit-in outside the Parliament Street Police Station on Friday and demanded registration of an FIR.
Speaking at the police station, Sahil Lochav said that despite submitting a complaint, no FIR had been registered.
“On 20th July, pellet guns were fired at me. I was admitted to Lady Hardinge, from there, I was referred to AIIMS. I underwent surgery at AIIMS. But the vision in my eye is still not clear. On 14th August, I wrote a 7-page complaint and gave it to my lawyer… But the FIR has not been registered,” he said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister JP Nadda criticised Rahul Gandhi over the protest, saying the Supreme Court had already taken cognisance of the July 20 incident and constituted a five-member high-powered committee headed by a former judge, and alleged that Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, was indulging in “camera-centric drama merely to keep himself in the headlines”.
He further accused the Congress leader of engaging in “cheap, attention-seeking politics” outside the Sansad Marg police station.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court constituted a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee (HPEC), headed by retired apex court Justice R Subhash Reddy, to conduct a fact-finding exercise into allegations of police excesses as well as violence by protesters during the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led demonstrations.
The committee comprises former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and former Meghalaya DGP LR Bishnoi. (ANI)
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