Firing in J&K's Budgam: Army admits mistake, takes responsibility for loss of lives

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NEW DELHI: Army on Friday admitted that its personnel made a mistake in Budgam firing incident in which two persons were killed.

DS Hooda, GOC Northern Command, said, "We accept full responsibility. We sincerely wish the incident would not have happened. We ensure this kind of incident will not happen in the future. If there was any violation we will deal with it severely."

Hooda also added that the Army will conduct a "fair and transparent probe" into the incident.

Army also announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh each for the injured.

Two youths were killed in Army firing at Chattergam in Budgam on Monday, while another two were injured. All the four were residents of Nowgam.

Army had received information on movement of militants in the area after which they set up three checking points. The youths did not stop at any point, which led soldiers to open fire.

Authorities had imposed curfew-like restrictions in the area and parts of Srinagar following the killings which evoked widespread condemnation from various quarters, including the mainstream political parties.

Army had received information on movement of militants in the area after which they set up three checking points. The youths did not stop at any point, which led soldiers to open fire.

Source : Firing in J&K's Budgam: Army admits mistake, takes responsibility for loss of lives - The Times of India

 

[janon]

It was an unfortunate incident - the teenagers were speeding to evade an angry driver who's car they had scraped. As they were speeding, they did not notice the soldiers signalling them to stop. At this point, the soldiers opened fire.

It's good to see the army still taking responsibility, and ordering an enquiry and paying compensation to the victims' families.

This 15-Year-Old Crawled Through a Field to Escape Army Bullets

Budgam: Basim Ahmad, 15, says he hasn't slept for four days. He was in the Maruti car that was fired at by army men in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, resulting in the death of two teenagers.

When Basim shuts his eyes, he sees the bullet-hit bodies of his friends. "I thank God that I am alive. Maybe it is destiny," says the boy, his gaze filled with sadness beyond his years.

The Class IX student survived by crawling out of the car to the paddy fields and running for his life.

The day began with five friends making plans to drive to a village to watch a procession for Muharram, which marks the death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson. By the end of the day, their lives would be shattered.

"We were having a good time in the car. A song was playing, we were joking around. We didn't notice any checkpoint as the army claims," Basim told NDTV.

Their car, he says, overtook a vehicle and scraped it. When the driver of that vehicle started shouting, Faisal, the teen who was driving the Maruti, reportedly sped up. The boys then saw some soldiers signaling at them to stop, but Faisal missed seeing them.

Basim says the army then started firing and Faisal was shot; he slumped over the steering wheel and lost control of the car.

"The car hit the pole. The army started firing andha-dhoond (indiscriminately). They didn't even see that there were children in the car," Basim says.

He stumbled out of the car from the other side and crawled, rolled and ran through the field, not stopping till he managed to reach a friend's house. He looked back once to see three of his friends, Meraj, Zahid and Shakir lying on the road.

Two more boys are in the hospital.

The army has said it was a case of "mistaken identity"; the soldiers were watching out for a white car in which terrorists were today said, "We are admitting mistakes have happened. We promise a fair and transparent inquiry."

The deaths have provoked massive outrage and protests in the Kashmir Valley. Protesters in Budgam say the army should punish its men for killing innocent civilians.

 

[thesolar65]

That is called real soldiers. Taking Responsibility.

 

[Dash]

Why wouldn't you stop when they ask? They are there for a reason, a reason which has prevented Kashmir from becoming Afghanistan!

That is called real soldiers. Taking Responsibility.

Semitia nakale semane janibeni ethi boss kie.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

I am sorry to upset one sided kashmiri terrorist supporters but i dont think anything wrong happened....same would happen if a car crashes in Pakistani army check post in Rawalpindi.

 

[acetophenol]

Their car, he says, overtook a
vehicle and scraped it. When
the driver of that vehicle
started shouting, Faisal, the teen who was driving the
Maruti, reportedly sped up.
The boys then saw some
soldiers signaling at them to
stop, but Faisal missed seeing
them.

Before jumping the guns,one should read the above part.

Their car, he says, overtook a
vehicle and scraped it. When
the driver of that vehicle
started shouting, Faisal, the teen who was driving the
Maruti, reportedly sped up.
The boys then saw some
soldiers signaling at them to
stop, but Faisal missed seeing
them.

Before jumping the guns,one should read the above part.

 

[chauvunist]

Once again reminding the Kashmiri's that they are under illegal occupation,If these people take guns against Indian Army then like always India is gonna blame Pakistan,without realizing that their oppressions begets no love but revenge...

 

[WAJsal]

I am sorry to upset one sided kashmiri terrorist supporters but i dont think anything wrong happened....same would happen if a car crashes in Pakistani army check post in Rawalpindi.

of course same thing would have happened but ur behaviour toward it is wts annoying like u dont even care a bharati bro died wt heck

 

[SrNair]

And Why did they deploy highly trained RR unit in checkpost.?
Regular Army or police was enough.RR unit are trained for
high reflex action.That is why they shoot the car at that instant of strange action of car.

Before jumping the guns,one should read the above part.


Before jumping the guns,one should read the above part.

But bro that was a heavy hand from Army.And we cant blame them because they were RR unit completely unsuited for checkpost operation.

 

[janon]

I am sorry to upset one sided kashmiri terrorist supporters but i dont think anything wrong happened....same would happen if a car crashes in Pakistani army check post in Rawalpindi.

Prima facie, it seems that the armymen had every right to open fire - the area was under curfew because of the Muharram processions, and these teenagers sped on without noticing the soldiers gesturing them to stop. On top of that, the soldiers had received an intel alert that a car of the same make was being used by terrorists trying to target the Muharram festivities.

And yet, despite all these extenuating circumstances, the army is still willingly declaring that they made a mistake, and paying compensation to the families, and inviting an investigation into the whole incident, and expressing complete willingness to punish anybody in their ranks who might have acted illegally. We know that this is how our army functions - and this is the reason that most of us who know anything about our country or our army feel like laughing our heads off when Pakistanis keep parroting that risible narrative about "millions of Kashmiris raped and killed by the evil Indian army" and so forth.

A few unfortunate events apart, the Indian army has always functioned honourably in Kashmir, and prevented that region from becoming yet another hub of jihadist activity like so many other failed states in the world.

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

Prima facie, it seems that the armymen had every right to open fire - the area was under curfew because of the Muharram processions, and these teenagers sped on without noticing the soldiers gesturing them to stop. On top of that, the soldiers had received an intel alert that a car of the same make was being used by terrorists trying to target the Muharram festivities.

And yet, despite all these extenuating circumstances, the army is still willingly declaring that they made a mistake, and paying compensation to the families, and inviting an investigation into the whole incident, and expressing complete willingness to punish anybody in their ranks who might have acted illegally. We know that this is how our army functions - and this is the reason that most of us who know anything about our country or our army feel like laughing our heads off when Pakistanis keep parroting that risible narrative about "millions of Kashmiris raped and killed by the evil Indian army" and so forth.

A few unfortunate events apart, the Indian army has always functioned honourably in Kashmir, and prevented that region from becoming yet another hub of jihadist activity like so many other failed states in the world.

Pakistanis will make noise on pdf but everyone knows what would have happened had Pakistan army done this.

 

[hkdas]

"The car hit the pole. The army started firing andha-dhoond (indiscriminately). They didn't even see that there were children in the car," Basim says.

the terrorists who attack the army base last year were also teen aged.. so how can army identify that those inside the car is not a terrorists?? the mistake is done by the boys who traveled in a car on a curfew driving the car with over speed and smashed into an army check point... army done the right thing... the pakistani members are trying to do their routine trolling as usual...

Pakistanis will make noise on pdf but everyone knows what would have happened had Pakistan army done this.

Kharotabad Incident - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Sam Manekshaw]

Sad incident.... But try to Co-OPERATE with security forces.

 

[janon]

And Why did they deploy highly trained RR unit in checkpost.?
Regular Army or police was enough.RR unit are trained for
high reflex action.That is why they shoot the car at that instant of strange action of car.

That's so wrong. The RR are not some special force - they are a dedicated counter insurgency force raised precisely for this job. The regular army is meant to fight conventional wars against external foes, while the RR was raised specifically to perform counter insurgency within the country. They have been at the forefront of winning the hearts and minds of the local population. They were formed precisely because a need was felt for a unit that could do the job with minimal force, as opposed to regular army formations which are trained to destroy opposing forces using every resource at their command.

Also, and this is a common misunderstanding, if a certain unit is more trained, that does not mean that they would use more force - it is usually the opposite, that they would use as little firepower as necessary to get the job done.

It is precisely because India has employed only the RR and not regular army units, that we have been so succesful in quelling a fearsome insurgency actively supported by a powerful neighbouring country. Many superpowers have floundered against insurgencies, but India is an exception.

 

[hkdas]