By IANS,
Chandigarh : The Haryana police have stopped the use of plastic bullets, for the time being, following the death of a government school teacher who was shot during a clash in Rohtak town, an official said Wednesday.
The plastic bullets are usually used by the police to disperse agitators. A plastic bullet is a type of less-lethal projectile fired from a specialised gun and used in riot control while a rubber bullet causes more damage when fired directly.
The doctors confirmed the recovery of four plastic bullets from the abdomen of Raj Rani, who died of bullet injuries during a clash Sunday between protesting teachers and the police in Haryana’s Rohtak town, around 200 km from here.
The teachers, who work on ad hoc basis, had gathered in Rohtak to press their demand for regularisation of their services and wanted to give a memorandum to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at his residence.
“If these bullets are fired from a distance of at least 150 metres, they are harmless but if they are shot at a distance of less than this they can be harmful and even prove fatal in some cases,” a police official told IANS.
“We have not banned these bullets in the state but have stopped their usage till we get the report of the investigating officers,” the official said.
“Additional deputy commissioner and superintendent of police, Rohtak, are the investigating officers. They will examine from the video footages available with the police that from how far the bullets were fired at the lady teacher who died in that incident,” said the official.
“Through video footages we will try to know the distance from which the bullet was fired and who fired that bullet. Normally these bullets are not fatal and only creates fear among the crowd,” Alok Mittal, superintendent of police of Rohtak, said by phone.
“All our police officials are trained so there is a very little chance of any mistake on their part. There can be some manufacturing defects in the bullets and only after checking these things, we can resume their use in the state,” said Mittal.