2 min readNew DelhiJul 30, 2026 09:06 AM IST
Amid the row over the use of pellet guns by security personnel to control the crowd during the protest in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, the chief of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has told the troops that they must act fearlessly and that he would take responsibility for their actions.
Addressing the force’s investiture ceremony on Monday, CRPF Director-General Gyanendra Pratap Singh said, “As the Director-General of the CRPF, I want to assure each one of you that whether it is an operational battalion or a law-and-order unit, whatever decisions you take and whatever actions you carry out in the bona fide discharge of your duties, I take responsibility for all those decisions and actions. “Continue to perform your duties fearlessly. Wherever responsibility or accountability needs to be taken, I will take it as the Director-General,” Singh said.
The CRPF’s Rapid Action Force (RAF) is under scrutiny for its handling of the situation at Jantar Mantar and other parts of central Delhi during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) July 20 march to Parliament to protest paper leaks.
Earlier this month, the RAF chief is learnt to have told all the personnel that the “force gradient” adopted for crowd control during the Parliament march on July 20 was not in accordance with prescribed standards and RAF training.
The observation came after an internal review flagged serious operational lapses when protesters were marching towards Parliament, with three persons receiving pellet gun injuries.
In the context of policing, a force gradient refers to different levels of force that police may use depending on the threat or resistance they face.
