Paramilitary CRPF, accused of disproportionate use of force in Jammu and Kashmir, today expressed regret for injuries caused to youths due to firing of pellet guns in the Valley and said it would continue to use this “least-lethal” weapon but only in “extreme” situations.
Addressing a press conference, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force K Durga Prasad said there was no weapon called “non-lethal” and the pellet guns, often used for crowd control in Kashmir Valley, was the “least-lethal” option available with the force.
“We feel very sorry for them as youngsters have to bear injuries due to the firing of pellet guns. We ourselves are trying to use it in bare minimum so that there are less injuries. But we use them under the extreme situation when crowd control fails by other means,” he said replying a volley of questions on use of pellet guns in Kashmir Valley.
A large number of youths have been injured in the last fortnight when CRPF personnel used pellet guns to control violent protesters in the wake of killing of Burhan Wani, a top militant of Hizbul Mujahideen.
(Agencies)
