Omar Abdullah led J-K governments first inquiry commission on the recent case of civilian killing has heavily indicted the Army for killing two civilians,saying that the Army opened fire and killed two civilians without any provocation and the Army action was not only disproportionate but breached all operational procedures. The report also rubbishes Armys claim of cross firing. The report was submitted by Deputy Commissioner,Baramulla Baseer Ahmad Khan who led an inquiry commission ordered by the government soon after two youth were killed by Army at Bomai on February 21. After a detailed investigation the report was submitted to the Chief Secretary,S S Kapoor. The report is likely to be submitted to the Chief Minister on Thursday. All eyes are now set on Abdullah as he has promised severe punishment to the guilty. Two civilians,Muhammed Amin Tantray and Javid Ahmed Dar were killed when troops of 22 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) opened fire on devotees at Bomai village. The incident sparked massive protests across the valley and soon after the killing of two civilians by Army J-K Chief Minister Abdullah ordered a magisterial inquiry into the firing and set a 15-day deadline for submitting the report. The Army too had ordered a separate probe into killing of two civilians and it had appointed a Brigadier as the inquiry officer. A murder case was also registered against the Army unit by the J-K Police. Sources said that Baseer Ahmad Khan,who led the inquiry commission to probe the killing of two civilians in Bomai village in the outskirts of Sopore town,in his report has mentioned there was no crossfire as claimed by the Army. The Army had informed the inquiry officer that the local police chowki and the officer on duty were informed about militant movement in the area, said an official privy to the inquiry report. But when the police officer deposed before the inquiry officer,he denied having any such information. A senior officer of the force who appeared before the inquiry officer had claimed that the militants had opened fire on troops by a pistol. But the inquiry officer had pointed out that not a single pistol fire cartridge was recovered from the spot,thus rubbishing the Armys claim. The inquiry officer has said that the troopers did not also follow the Standards Operation Procedures (SOP) during the incident. The inquiry officer,in his report,has said that Army opened fired at the civilians and the bullet wounds were found above the chest level which indicated that Army opened fire with intention to kill the civilians. During the investigations,the inquiry officer had summoned Army officials to record their statements. The inquiry officer was also provided the copy of the First Information Report (FIR),Rozanamcha and seized blank cartridges from the scene of the incident on the same day. The inquiry officer had also met a group of the eyewitnesses,families of the victims,other local villagers and even the people from the adjoining villages.
