Karvan-e-Aman bus leaves for POK

Srinagar, Sep 17: Despite tense situation due to strike called by separatists against Kulgam militant and civilian killings, the Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), on Monday left here to cross over to other side of the Line of Control (LoC), official sources said.

The cross-LoC bus with 38 passengers left Bemina, Srinagar, for Kaman Post, the last Indian military post on this side of the border in Uri sector, sources told TNN.

The bus has since reached Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC) at Uri where more passengers will board it before crossing over to POK. However, the exact number of passengers travelling to PoK will be known in the afternoon, they said adding similarly people coming from PoK will be known in the evening.

The bus, one of the major Confidence Building Measure (CBM) , has helped thousands of families, divided due to partition in 1947, to meet each other since April 7,2005.

However, only state subjects from both sides of the LoC are eligible to travel in the bus on travel permits instead of International passports.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) , comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq and Mohammad Yaseen Malik, has called for a strike on Monday against the killing of five militants and a civilian in Kulgam.