SRINAGAR : The weekly Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between summer capital, Srinagar, and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), left here on Monday to cross over to other side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector, where situation was tense due to ceasefire violation by Pak troops last week which later led to suspension of trade for one day.
Despite strike called by Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) against alleged Human Rights (HR) violation in the Kashmir valley on the International HR day today, the bus left Bemina, Srinagar, this morning for Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the LoC in Uri sector, official sources said.
The bus has since reached Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC), Uri, where more passengers will board it before leaving for Kaman post, they said adding the exact number of passengers travelling in the cross-LoC bus will be known in the afternoon.
Similarly, they said, the passengers travelling from POK will also be known in the evening.
However, the number of passengers travelling from POK goes down in winter due to below freezing temperature while it remain high in summer. Similarly people travelling from here to POK goes down in summer when weather remains pleasant in Kashmir but increases in winter.
The bus operated despite tense situation at the LoC due to 2003 ceasefire violation by Pak troops in Uri sector on December 5 and 6 due to which a structure was damaged which later led to suspend cross-LoC trade on Thursday, they said.
The bus helped thousands of families, divided due to partition in 1947, to meet each other after India and Pakistan agreed to allow travel of state subjects from both sides of the LoC on Travel Permits instead of International Passports since April 7, 2005.
However, travel of any person is allowed only after their names are cleared by intelligence agencies from both India and Pakistan.
(agencies)
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