Premium

‘I have a 1% chance of getting my eyesight back’: The 19-year-old struck by pellets during the CJP protest

Sahil Lochab, a 19-year-old student, alleges he was hit by pellets during the Cockroach Janta Party's "Sansad Chalo" march towards Parliament on July 20.

Visuals from Parliament march crackdown in New Delhi on Monday, July 20 (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

4 min readNew DelhiJul 23, 2026 10:41 PM IST First published on: Jul 23, 2026 at 07:00 PM IST

Lying on a hospital bed at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, 19-year-old Sahil Lochab says he is trying to come to terms with the possibility that he may never regain sight in his right eye.

Speaking to The Indian Express from bed number 9 in the Trauma Centre’s sixth-floor ward, Lochab’s right eye is covered with a white bandage, while the right side of his face bears several black marks that doctors suspect are “pellet” injuries, seen when “small objects are thrown at speed”.

Lochab alleges he was hit by pellets during the Cockroach Janta Party’s “Sansad Chalo” march towards Parliament on July 20. His right eye, with shrapnel still lodged inside, underwent surgery on Tuesday.

AIIMS confirms pellet injuries

A senior AIIMS official confirmed that Lochab had “pellet injuries” on the right side of his body. “The patient is currently stable and is on painkillers. As for the extent of his vision loss, he is still undergoing treatment, and it would be premature to draw any conclusions at this stage. He is being provided the best possible treatment,” the official said.

Also Read | ‘Modi ji, please break up with us’: Gen Z’s protest playbook maybe unserious, its impact is not

A student at Delhi University’s School of Open Learning, Lochab said he joined the protest because he was frustrated after the Delhi Police recruitment examination he had appeared for in 2024 was cancelled following a paper leak.

“I wanted to join the Delhi Police and had given the exams in 2024. Then the paper got leaked. That’s why I joined the protest,” he said.

By around 3.30 pm, he said, the protest had descended into chaos around Jantar Mantar and the Parliament area.

“At that time I was in Connaught Place. I could see there was no leadership to the protest anymore. No one from CJP was around. I folded my hands as the security forces were running towards us. And then bam. Something hit the right side of my face and I fell down,” he said.

Also Read | RAF officer Sonia Sehrawat, viral after Delhi protest, faces Insta question

The next thing he remembers, Lochab said, was reaching Lady Hardinge Hospital, where another alleged victim of pellet injuries, Irshad Sheikh, was also admitted after being injured in the same area.

“From there I was taken to Safdarjung. Then I was transferred to the RP Centre at AIIMS. But due to the severity of my injury, I was sent back to the AIIMS Trauma Centre,” he said.

A resident of Najafgarh in southwest Delhi, Lochab now finds himself worrying about the future he had planned before July 20.

His father, Deepak, works as a driver.

“Doctors say that I have a one percent chance of recovering any of my eyesight,” Lochab said.

“Without my eyesight, I don’t have a real shot at any government exam now. None of the CJP members have come to meet me. No one from the government has come. The only thing I want from the government is a job now. I want my future secured.”

By his bedside, Lochab’s maternal uncle, Ajay, said the family still does not know whether he will require another operation. “We just want his eye to be fixed. We don’t know whether it would happen or whether a new eye would be needed. He went to the protest to do what he could for the country,” he said.

# CJP Protest