Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 29: A seven member Expert Committee, constituted by the Union Home Minister to explore other possible alternatives to pellet guns as non-lethal weapons for using them for crowd control in the Kashmir valley, today submitted its report to the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi.
The Committee was headed by TV S N Prasad, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had set up the Committee on July 27 and asked it to submit report in two months. However, the Committee has submitted its report nearly a month in advance.
Rajnath had told media persons in Srinagar on August 25 that the Committee would submit its report in the next 3-4 days.
Other six members of the Expert Committee included Atul Karwal, IG CRPF Srinagar, Rajeev Krishna, IG (Operations) BSF, Rajesh Kumar, IPS, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Tushar Tripathy, IOFS, DDG, Small Arms, OFB, Dr Manjit Singh, Director, TBRL, Chandigarh and Dr Naresh Bhatnagar, Professor, IIT Delhi.
An official handout issued by KS Dhatwalia, Additional Director General (M&C) Home, New Delhi, said the Expert Committee today submitted its report to the Union Home Secretary.
Sources said the experts were reportedly of the view that pellet guns, which are being used by security forces for crowd control in Kashmir, will not be completely banned but will be fired in “rarest of rare cases”.
The Expert Panel has today suggested use of chilli-filled grenades and ‘stun lac shells’ to control mobs in addition to the debatable weapon being used now.
Sources said Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA) also called Nonivamide and other non-lethal ammunition like ‘stun lac shells’ and Long Range Acoustic Device (LARD) which create deafening noise to paralyse people were understood to have suggested as possible alternatives to the pellet guns.
However, LARD is likely to be used in rural areas as it could prove dangerous for old buildings in downtown Srinagar.
Sources said pellet guns, which are being used by security forces for crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir, will not be completely banned but will be fired in “rarest of rare cases”.
Senior Government functionaries have arrived at this conclusion after extensive consultations with security forces and examining the ground realities in Kashmir valley.
The option of firing pellet guns will remain but these will be used only in rarest of rare cases, the official said.
The Government is facing criticism for using the pellet guns for crowd control in Kashmir Valley as the weapon has caused large-scale injuries in the 51-day unrest following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8.
The expert committee also recommended Standard Operating Procedures for deployment of this new assortment of non-lethal weapons.
‘PAVA shells’, a chilli-based ammunition, is less lethal and immobilises the target temporarily.
The committee held a demonstration of the newly-developed shells at a test field earlier this week and gave the thumbs up for use by security forces for crowd control and during protests like those being witnessed in the Kashmir valley in place of the pellet guns which have caused grievous injuries and large-scale blinding.
The ‘PAVA shells’, as per the blueprint prepared in this regard and accessed by PTI, were under trial for over a year at the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratory in Lucknow, and its full development has come at a time when Kashmir is on the boil.
Sources close to the committee said it has favoured ‘PAVA shells’ as an alternative to pellet guns and has recommended that the Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) of the BSF in Gwalior should be tasked with bulk production of the shells “immediately”, with the first lot not of less than 50,000 rounds.
Follow our WhatsApp channel