On the night of 23 February 1991, the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora in Kupwara district, Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, were placed under cordon by the 4th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles, a unit of the Indian Army engaged to curb the freedom struggle. It was a dark midnight operation. Villagers were awakened and ordered out of their homes. The men were assembled on the road and kept under guard, while the women were instructed to remain inside their homes.

The familiar justification was offered: freedom fighters were allegedly hiding in the village, a routine claim often invoked to justify search operations.