Amnesty accuses Indian police of excessive force during youth protests

Indian police used what Amnesty International described as excessive and unlawful force against youth-led protests in New Delhi and Bihar last month, including pellet guns, tear gas and electric shock devices, the rights group said Monday.

The allegations challenge the police version that officers used force only after protesters became violent. The claims also come days after India‍‍`s Supreme Court appointed a panel to investigate violence involving both police and demonstrators.

The protests began over the leak of a national medical entrance examination and grew into a wider movement over unemployment and opportunities for young people. On July 20, thousands of protesters tried to march towards Parliament in New Delhi, leading to clashes with police.

Amnesty said it reviewed witness accounts and verified visual evidence showing police using pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas launchers, grenades, batons and electric shock devices against protesters in Delhi and Bihar.

The group also said it verified two cases in Bihar‍‍`s Siwan district in which a police officer used lethal force against a crowd. No deaths were reported in those incidents.

According to Amnesty, some protesters did throw stones, but the response by security forces went far beyond what was necessary to control the demonstrations.

Police have rejected that account. During a Supreme Court hearing last week, Delhi Police said officers used force only after protesters turned violent. They also claimed that people posing as students had attacked security personnel and caused serious injuries.

The confrontation has also become a political issue. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi held a sit-in outside a Delhi police station on Friday alongside a 19-year-old protester who said he was injured by pellets during the July 20 demonstration. 

Police later registered a case based on his complaint.

The protests, led by the online Cockroach Janta Party, initially focused on irregularities surrounding the medical entrance test but later expanded to wider concerns over unemployment, limited opportunities for young people and what critics call an increasingly authoritarian style of government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The demonstrations became the biggest political challenge Modi has faced since securing a third term in 2024.