MUZAFFARABAD, May 28: Pakistani military officials on Saturday repatriated two young men who had strayed into Azad Kashmir from Indian-occupied Kashmir about a month ago.

Nineteen-year-old Mohammad Ashfaq, son of Jahangir, and 16-year-old Mohammad Younus, son of Habib, were taken into protective custody by army personnel after they crossed the unmarked Line of Control (LoC) mistakenly on April 29.

Pakistani officials handed over the boys to the Indian military and civilian authorities at a flag meeting held at Tetrinote-Chakan da Bagh crossing point in district Poonch after high-level contacts were reportedly made between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Speaking to journalists, the boys said they crossed the LoC while picking medicinal plants. An army official also gave them some gifts. An Indian doctor examined them at the crossing point.

Residents along the LoC often land themselves in trouble after inadvertently straying to the other side. However, both sides have agreed to return such people as a gesture of goodwill.