MUZAFFARABAD: Authorities in India-held Kashmir on Sunday repatriated a man and his son to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), a day after the duo had inadvertently crossed the Line of Control (LoC) from Abbaspur sector of Poonch division, officials said.

Abdul Hameed, 55, and his son Abbas, 34, were watering their cattle at a water channel close to their Polas Kakuta village at about 1:30pm on Saturday when they reportedly strayed into the territory under Indian occupation and were taken into custody by the Indian soldiers.

Fellow villager Muhammad Hussain, 60, who was behind them saw this happening and reported it to the Pakistan army personnel stationed in the rear, an administration official told Dawn from the area by telephone.

According to him, the army contacted their counterparts across the divide for repatriation of the inadvertent crossers, following which the duo was returned by the Indian authorities via Tetrinote-Chakan Da Bagh crossing point on Sunday evening.

Assistant commissioner Abbaspur Malik Abdul Haleem and SHO Hajira Sardar Majid received the duo at the crossing point where they were examined for any infectious disease by a senior doctor. Later, after a routine questioning at a police station, they were allowed to go home.

Villagers living along the unmarked LoC often go astray while herding cattle, cutting fodder or collecting medicinal plants and herbs and land themselves in trouble on the other side of the divide.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023