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.

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.^[1]

An indefinite curfew was imposed on Sopore, Tujjar Sharief, Bomai, Seelu and adjoining areas on 22 February 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.^[2]

Investigations

The day after the two youths were killed, police registered a murder 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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