Haryana Director General of Police (DGP), Shatrujeet Kapur, while speaking to The Hindu on 18 February denied the use of pellet guns against farmers protesting at the Punjab-Haryana Khanauri Border over demand for a Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee law.
The Quint, however, has exclusively accessed the medical report of a protesting farmer who was admitted to the Government Medical College and Rajendra Hospital in Patiala with pellet injuries.
"The patient came to surgery emergency with A/H/O Trauma at Khanauri Border on 14 February. The patient was admitted, examined and investigated. Neurosurgery, orthopaedics, Cardio Thoracic and Vascular, Eye, ENT, and ICU opinion was taken and managed accordingly," the report said.
Details of pellet-related injuries as provided in the report are:
A celluloid cyst ms 7mm x 5 mm in left lobe of thyroid.
Multiple metallic density objects giving streak artefacts s/o pellets are seen in anterior and right lateral abdominal wall, inguinal region in skin, subcutaneous tissue plane.
Multiple metallic density objects giving streak artefact s/o pellets with surrounding fat stranding in skin and subcutaneous tissue of the face.
Multiple metallic density objects giving streak artefacts s/o pellets with surrounding fat stranding in skin and subcutaneous tissue of the neck.
Multiple metallic density objects giving streak artefacts s/o pellets are seen along the anterior chest wall in skin and subcutaneous tissue.
The report has been signed by a junior resident doctor in Rajendra Hospital.
The Quint corroborated the contents of the report with a senior doctor in Delhi at a renowned private hospital. "Going by the contents of the medical report, one can safely say that the patient sustained pellet injuries," said the doctor, who wanted to remain anonymous.
Mahesh Choudhary, media coordinator of the Kisan Majdoor Morcha, the organising body of the current protests alleged to The Quint that a large number of protesting farmers have suffered pellet injuries. "We're still in the process of collating data on how many people have been injured by pellet guns. They (police and authorities) have turned this area on a war-zone. There are people who've lost sight in the process," he claimed.
(The Quint has reached out to Haryana Police, DGP, and ADGP for a response to the story. It will we updated when we hear from them.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)