85 trans-Kashmir bus passengers cross sides

Srinagar, May 26: As many as 85 passengers crossed sides at the ''Kaman Aman Setu (Peace Bridge)'' along the Line of Control (LoC) on board the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus, officials said today.

Altogether 32 passengers, 25 fresh and 7 returnee, left here for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on board the ''Karvaan-e-Aman (Caravan of Peace)''.

Similarly, 53 passengers, 29 fresh and 24 returnee, arrived here from Muzaffarabad last evening.

The passengers who had come on board the previous cross-border buses went back to Muzaffarabad after visiting their relatives in Kashmir, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu.

The cross-border bus service between the divided Kashmir was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from here on April 7 last year after nearly 58 years following an agreement reached between India and Pakistan to allow families, separated since 1947, to meet each other.

The 170-km Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, also known as the Jhelum Valley road, was closed for traffic on October 27, 1947 when ''Kabailis (tribesmen)'' invaded parts of Jammu and Kashmir which came to be known as PoK.

UNI