Bomai Incident

The Bomai Incident refers to the deaths of two people caught in the cross fire between unknown assailants and soldiers of the 22nd Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles of The INDIAN Army. The gun fight occurred at a security checkpoint during a religious celebration in Bomai, Tujar Shaief, Sopore, in the Baramulla district of Kashmir, India, on 21 February 2009.

Incident

On the evening of 21 February, during a festival of dedicated to Hazrat Makhdoom Sahib at Bomai, Tujer Sharief in Sopore, India, people traveling to the festival were asked to disembark from vehicles at a security checkpoint called Rajinder Post, which was established in 1994. The checkpoint was manned by 22 members of the Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian Army. While checking vehicle occupants for contraband materials, some of the festival participants began to vocally protest the security measures with anti-national slogans; others started to throw stones on the troops, and caused injury to one officer. Taking advantage of the crowds and confusion, militant protesters fired on the troops. The ensuing firefight resulted in the deaths of two youths who were caught in the cross fire.

Deceased

The deceased were later identified as Muhammad Amin Tantray of Bomai, Sopore, and Javid Ahmad Dar of Muslim Peer, Sopore.

Protests

As the news of The Two persons' deaths spread, thousands of people in Bomai and other parts of Sopore took to roads and staged a protest against the Indian army. Raising pro-freedom and anti-army slogans, the protestors demanded "instant" punishment for the troopers responsible for firing on civilians. The protestors refused to bury the bodies till action was taken against the army personnel. Top police and civil officials rushed to the spot and were able to persuade people to abort the sit-in and bury the bodies, only after the assurances of an impartial Magistrate inquiry by Deputy Commissioner Baramulla Baseer Ahmad Khan.

An indefinite curfew was imposed on Sopore, Tujjar Sharief, Bomai, Seelu and adjoining areas on 22 Feberuary 2009, the morning following violent demonstrations regarding the two youths allegedly killed by Army weapons' fire. The authorities sealed all roads leading to Sopore and two delegations, one of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and the other of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) were stopped at Sangrama and Narbal en route to Sopore. The acting chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Mohammad Ashraf Sahrai was placed under house arrest to PReVENT him from visiting Sopore to lead the funeral of one of the two youths.

Investigations

The day after the two youths were killed, police registered a [...] case against the 22 soldiers of the Rashtria Rifles after relatives of the victims formally approached them. The Sopore police registered an FIR 73/09 under section 302 against the army, on the complaint of victims' relatives. The army also ordered an inquiry into the incident. Chief minister Omar Abdullah, who was on a three-day tour of the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and asked for the report to be submitted within 15 days. Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Baseer Khan appointed a Sub District Magistrate was as inquiry officer to probe the incident and who was supposed to submit the report within a week.

View of Army

Army spokesman Uma Maheshwari denied the involvement of army personnel in the deaths. “None of the army personnel was patrolling in the area. Nor was any of the 22 RR man present on the spot,” Mahewari told local news agency KNS. “It is being said that some persons wearing army uniform opened fire on the people. We have no association with them.”

However Col Sanjeev, Commander 22 RR gave a different version. “Our trooper was searching the vehicles in the area. While the search of the vehicles was on, two militants wearing pheran refused to alight from a vehicle. When trooper asked them to raise their hands, they opened fire, causing death of two persons,” he claimed.