Bodies of two Baramulla residents who jumped into Jhelum returned by PoK authorities

Bodies of two residents of J&K’s Baramulla district, missing after they reportedly jumped into the Jhelum River earlier this month, were handed over to Indian authorities by officials of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) at the Kaman post on the Line of Control (LoC) on Saturday.

These two, identified as Yasir Hussain Shah of Busgran village of Uri tehsil and Asiya Bano of Kundi Barjala village of the same tehsil, had drowned after jumping into the river on March 5, officials said, adding that an extensive search operation had failed to trace their bodies so far.

After a sustained search operation, the body of Shah was spotted floating near the Kaman post in Uri on March 20.

"Police and rescue teams attempted to retrieve the body, but it drifted to the other side of the LoC due to strong currents. The authorities from the Indian side took the matter up with officials of PoK across the LoC, who eventually retrieved both the bodies from the river," an official said.

"A meeting was held at the Kaman post in Uri on Saturday, where officials from the Uri administration, including the SDPO, SHO, tehsildar, Indian Army and their counterparts from the other side as well as the parents of the deceased, in addition to a team of doctors were present. Indian authorities received the bodies after completion of formalities," the official added.

The 776-km-long LoC in J&K is a natural defacto border made up of rivers, mountains, ridges, gorges, and ravines.

People on the two sides of the LoC sometimes inadvertently cross the border while grazing cattle etc. Such civilians are apprehended by the alert army troops guarding the LoC.

After verifying their credentials, such civilians are returned to their homes.

A 24X7 vigil is maintained on the LoC by the Indian Army to check the infiltration of terrorists into the Indian side. Such infiltration bids often end in gunfights between the army and the terrorists resulting in the death of intruding terrorists or their withdrawal back into the PoK.