SRINAGAR: The weekly Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) left here this morning to cross over to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), official sources said.
However, this time there is no passenger of Poonch-Rawlakote bus. Last week 116 residents of PoK, who were stranded in Jammu after Poonch-Rawalakote bus service remained suspended since July 10 due to heavy shelling from across the border, crossed to other side through Kaman Post, the last Indian military post on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector in Baramulla district of north Kashmir.
The weekly bus left Bemina in Srinagar this morning for Kaman post to cross over to other side of the LoC, sources told UNI. However, the number of passengers travelling in the bus will be known only in the afternoon.
Similarly the number of travelling from POK to this side will also be known in the afternoon, they said.
The bus service, a major Confidence Building Measure(CBM), was taken to allow resident of both sides, separated in 1947 to meet each other. The first bus operated despite opposition by militant outfits on April 7, 2005 and later all separatist leaders, barring hardline Hurriyat Conference (HC) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chief Shabir Ahmad Shah travelled in the bus to POK.
However, only the state subjects from both sides are eligible to travel in the bus after intelligence agencies of Pakistan and India will clear their names. So far thousands of families, separated due to partition, have met each other after the introduction of the peace bus.
(AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
