Modified pellet guns to deal low blows, spare serious injuries

NEWDELHI: The CRPF will deploy a modified version of pellet guns after facing heat over the use of the weapon that caused severe eye injuries to protesters in Jammu and Kashmir.

The new design will ensure pellets are directed at the lower body, saving the face and eyes of stone-pelting protesters in the strife-torn state, officials said on Monday.

“We have attached a deflector made of aluminium sheet on the barrel of the gun that ensures that its discharge doesn’t go upward. By using the deflector, there is only a 2% chance that the shot fired may hit above the point of aim as compared to the rate of 40% earlier.

The CRPF has asked a special BSF workshop to modify the guns. Besides, the force is already under strict instructions to aim (at) only the feet of protesters,” a CRPF official said on condition of anonymity.

Pellet guns fire cartridges consisting of hundreds of small metal balls but their extensive use to quell unrest in the Kashmir Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8 last year led to hundreds of cases of eye and facial injuries, often causing partial or full loss of vision.