Despite tension in LoC, Karvan-e-Aman bus leave for PoK

Srinagar, Mar 19 : Amid tension on the Line of Control (LoC) due to unprovoked shelling by Pakistan in which a couple and their three minor sons were killed and two daughters injured in Jammu region, the Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) left on Monday to cross over to other side of the border.

The bus, carrying eight residents of Kashmir travelling to meet their relatives separated due to partition in 1947, and two PoK residents left Bemina in Srinagar this morning for Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the LoC in Uri sector, official sources told TNN.

They said the bus has since reached Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC), Uri where more passengers will board it before proceeding towards Kaman post. The exact number of passengers travelling in it will be known only in the afternoon, they added.

Similarly, number of passengers travelling from the other side will also be known in the afternoon, they said.

The bus, introduced on April 7, 2005 has helped thousands of families, divided in 1947, to meet each other. Despite tension on the borders due to cross-border shelling, the bus service continued.

Yesterday, five members of a family were killed and two minor girls besides five soldiers were injured in Pakistan shelling in Balakote sector in Mendhar.

However, only state subjects from both sides are eligible to travel in the bus on “Travel Permits” instead of International passport after their names are cleared by the intelligence agencies from both the countries.