No Karvan-e-Aman bus to POK

Srinagar, Feb 18 : The weekly Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) on Monday has been cancelled, official sources said.

The bus run has been cancelled on Monday, a message was received last night from Regional Passport Office (RPO), Srinagar, sources said adding no reason for cancellation of the cross-Line of Control (LoC) bus was given.

However, sources said the bus service has been suspended in the wake of fidayeen attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant Adil who rammed RDX laden vehicle into a bus in which 44 CRPF personnel were martyred on Thursday.

They said cross-LoC bus service between Poonch in Jammu region and Rawlakote in POK has also been cancelled on Monday. There will also be no trade on Monday, sources added.

The Karvan-e-Aman bus was introduced on April 7, 2005 to help families divided in 1947 due to partition, to meet each other on Travel Permits instead of International Passports. However, only state subjects from both sides of the border are allowed to cross sides at Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the LoC at Uri only after their names are cleared by intelligence agencies from India and Pakistan.

The bus has since helped thousands of divided families to meet each other.