J&K: Cross-LoC Poonch Rawlakote bus service suspended till next Monday

Line of Control bus service between Poonch and Rawlakote was on Monday suspended in view of fierce exchange of fire and mortar shells between the armies of India and Pakistan. However, the bus services will resume after one week.

Earlier today, the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing at Indian positions on the LoC in Poonch district. Pakistan Army had violated the ceasefire on Sunday too in the Krishna Ghati and Chakan Da Bagh sectors. A mortar fired by the Pakistan Army landed and exploded inside the trade facilitation centre in Chakan Da Bagh on Sunday resulting in minor damage to one of the buildings there.

Considered as a major confidence building measure between India and Pakistan, the bus service was inaugurated by the prime minister Manmohan Singh on April 7, 2005, to allow divided families to meet.

Although bus service has been going on between the two sides for the past 12-years, but the number of J&K residents travelling to other side has shown a steep decline. Initially, the bus service was running twice a month but it was made a weekly affair in 2008.

OneIndia News