Karvan-e-Aman bus leaves for LoC to cross over to PoK

Srinagar, Oct 30: The Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), Monday morning left for Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector to cross over to other side, official sources said. The weekly bus, with three fresh guests from Kashmir and 16 PoK returnees, left Srinagar this morning, sources told UNI. The bus has since reached Trade Facilitation Centre (TRC) Uri, where other passengers will board it before leaving for Kaman post, they said, adding that the exact number of passengers would be known in the afternoon. The exact number of guests arriving from PoK will also be known in the afternoon. The weekly bus service was one of the major Confidence Building Measure (CBM) taken by India and Pakistan to allow families divided due to partition in 1947 to meet each other. Despite opposition by militant outfits, the first bus was flagged off by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7, 2005. Almost all separatist leaders, barring chairman of hardline Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmad Shah, have travelled in the bus to other side of the border. The bus has helped thousands of divided families to meet each other since their separation in 1947. However, only state subjects from both sides are eligible to travel in the peace bus provided their names are cleared by the intelligence agencies from both the countries. UNI