Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 6: Pakistani authorities today handed over the body of an Indian boy who drowned in a river in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and was swept across the border by strong currents, officials said.
Zaffar Ahmad, 17, of Kalai village was taking a bath in the river on July 31 when he drowned. He could not be traced by rescuers, they said.
The Army, which had also joined the police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in the search operation, established contact with their Pakistani counterparts as it was believed that the body might have been swept across the Line of Control (LoC), the officials said.
The Pakistan army confirmed the recovery of a body on August 4. The Indian Army sent a message through a hotline for the return of the mortal remains, they said.
After confirming the identity of the deceased, they said, the modalities were chalked out and the body was handed over to the Indian Army in the presence of civil and police officials at Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point on Saturday.
Ahmad’s body was handed over to his family after the completion of formalities, the officials said.
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