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Pellet guns to be used in rarest of the rare cases
Facing strong protest from security forces, particularly the central reserve police force (CRPF) that is at the forefront in tackling public ire in the valley, the Centre has decided against banning the pellet guns in toto.
However, instructions are being passed to the CRPF and others to use the pellet guns in rarest of the rare cases (in life threatening situations), said top official sources adding that the security forces will be asked to make use of Chilli filled PAVA shells on which the expert committee had zeroed in as best possible non-lethal alternative to pellet guns.
PAVA shells can be used as a projectile in both single and multi-barrel guns to disperse large violent crowds. Used in plastic shell that starts melting soon thus making it difficult to be thrown back, PAVA shells immobilise the target for nearly 20-30 minutes because of its strong intensity and do not have serious long term health hazard.
After giving nod to the PAVA shells, the seven member expert committee that submitted its report to the union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi recommended that the Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) of the BSF in Tekanpur, near Gwalior should be immediately given order for bulk production of shells, with the first lot of not less than 50,000 rounds.
Sources said, the CRPF top commanders dealing with ground situation in Kashmir told the Centre that ban on pellet guns will leave them at the mercy of strong and violent crowds that are ready to run over even secured and well protected camps.
This would leave them in two situations either to use their regular service weapons that will increase the casualty rate or run away from the scene for fear of getting killed. In both the scenarios, the result would be highly counterproductive and demoralizing, CRPF understood to have told the union home ministry.
The government has been facing severe criticism for using pellet guns for crowd control in Kashmir as the weapon has caused large-scale injuries in the 53-day unrest following encounter death of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8.
During his two-day Kashmir visit on August 24-25, union home minister Rajnath Singh had announced that an alternative to pellet guns will be made available to the security in the coming days.