LAHORE: Two of the three Pakistani boys arrested by Indian authorities for crossing the border (Narowal sector) mistakenly last year were handed over to their families at the Wagah border on Monday.

Since the third boy is yet to be released by the Indian authorities, Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi is reportedly in contact with the quarters concerned to get him back.

After they were released by Indian authorities, the boys were handed over to the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi on Monday morning from where they were brought to Wagah.

Ali Raza (14), Babar (16) and their 17-year-old maternal uncle Shahzad, went to visit the border area in Narowal sector and accidentally crossed over to Indian territory in June last year.

The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) arrested the boys and sent them to jail.

Following the boys’ arrest, their families had contacted the Pakistani authorities for their release.

The Indian authorities earlier had agreed to freeing the boys, but their release was postponed after an Indian agent Kalbhushan Jadhav was put on death row in Pakistan on April 10, 2017.

The Pakistani High Commission had hired a lawyer, sent legal notice to the Indian authorities for not releasing the boys and filed a petition in the court.

An Indian court had also ordered release of the boys on August 30, 2016 and later Pakistan High Commission was allowed counselor’s excess to the boys on Nov 29, 2016.

On Monday, two of the three boys were handed over to the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi who later sent them to Wagah where they were handed over to the Pakistan Rangers.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2017