Undeterred by train blast, 39 people leave for PoK in Aman bus

Srinagar, Mar 1 (UNI) Undeterred by recent bomb blasts in the Samjhauta Express that killed 68 people, 39 passengers today boarded Karvan-e-Aman bus here for Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).

The bus left from here under unprecedented security arrangments for ''Kaman Aman Setu (Peace Bridge)'', the last border point on this side of the Line of Control (LoC).

Altogether 39 passengers -- 22 new, including 19 mens and three women besides 17 returnees, including 10 men, six women and one child -- left in the bus.

The new passengers from here were eager to cross over to other side to meet their relatives after several decades. However, those returning to POK, after their stay here, were a bit disappointed because they were leaving the valley without witnessing summer beauty in Kashmir.

The passengers will have to deboard the bus on this side of the peace bridge and cross to other side on foot where they will have to board another bus for Muzaffarabad. However, only citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and POK are eligible to use the route.

The cross-border bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from here on April 7, 2005 to allow divided families to meet each other after 58 years.

However, it was suspended for three months when major portion of the road from other side of the LoC was damaged in the October 8, 2005 killer quake.

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.

UNI