Three days after the body of an eight-year-old boy from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was fished out from the Kishenganga river in Kashmir’s Gurez, it was handed over to the family as India and Pakistani Armies decided to set up a new exchange point, in a rare move.
Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora, Shahbaz Mirza, said Army officials were accompanied by Sub-District Magistrate from Gurez when the body was handed to the Pakistan Army at 2 p.m. at a point at Chorwan border.
Abid Sheikh, 8, had apparently fallen off the cliff in PoK’s Minimarg area and floated into Jammu and Kashmir, where he was spotted on June 9.
However, the body remained in Jammu and Kashmir for the past two days as the Pakistan Army wanted it to be handed over at the designated points in the Valley, which were far-off areas of Kaman Post in Uri, Chakan-Da-bagh in Poonch and Teetwal in Tangdhar sectors.
“In a deviation from protocol, the Indian Army handed over the body at Gurez itself on humanitarian grounds,” an Army officer said.
This exchange was unscheduled and Pakistan had to do de-mining on their side for their personnel to cross, the source added.
