Karvan-e-Aman bus leaves with 28 people to PoK

Sriangar, Oct 26: The Karvan-e-Aman bus today left for Aman Setu, the last Indian border post, with 28 Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) bound passengers, official sources said.

They said the bus left under tight security for Aman Setu, the last Indian post on the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector from here this morning.

Twenty-four passengers had come to Kashmir valley to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr witht their relatives here yesterday were returning to their homes in Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK.

The other four passengers are the resident of the Kashmir valley who are going to PoK to meet their relatives after a gap of more than 57 years.

The passengers will deboard the bus at Aman setu and cross over to PoK on foot through the bridge seperating India and Pakistan.

However, they will again board a bus from PoK the other sid of the LoC to reach Muzaffarabad.

The bus service to enable the families separated during to partition in 1947 was started on April 7 last year first the bus was flagged off by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Hundreds of Kashmiris living on both sides of the LoC have so far crossed the line to visit their relatives in Jammu and Kashmir and PoK.

However, the bus service was suspended after October 8, devastating earthquaked that damaged the Aman setu bridge and road on the other side the LoC. It took a few months to restore the service after PoK administration undertook the repair work. The damaged bridge was reconstructed by the Indian army which was inaugurated by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

A number of separatist leaders, including moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Mohammad Yaseen Malik also undertook the journey through this route.

UNI

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