Indian army hands over Pakistani boy who crossed border

The boy was given a pair of new clothes and sweets for his family before being handed over

PHOTO: NDTV

The Indian army has handed over a Azad Jammu and Kashmir boy who had inadvertently crossed the Line of Control (LoC), a defence official said on Sunday.

"Army officials in Tangdhar sector handed over 11-year-old Sameer Kayani, son of Mohammad Rafiq of Laswa Athmuqam in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, who had inadvertently crossed the LoC two days ago, to Pakistan Army officials," defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel NN Joshi said.

"The boy was handed over by the unit based at Tanghdar frontier area at Teetwal crossing point with new clothes and sweets for the family," he added, according to NDTV.

Read: Pakistan responds to India's 'unprovoked' firing at working boundary

Lieutenant Colonel Joshi said that soon after the boy was apprehended by the troops, the Indian army sent an urgent hotline message to Pakistan side informing them of the safety and well-being of Kayani. Further, Joshi said they forwarded a request for a flag meeting so the 11-year-old could be repatriated and reunited with his family at the earliest.


“The flag meeting was held at Teetwal on Saturday and Kayani was handed over to the representatives of the Pakistan Army,” Joshi said.

Read: Indian BSF resorts to unprovoked firing at LoC, receives effective response

On Sunday, Pakistani and Indian security forces exchanged fire at the working boundary near Sialkot in a latest sign of tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that Indian Border Security Force (BSF) resorted to ‘unprovoked’ firing in Charwah Sector. However, there were no reports of casualties from either side.

This article originally appeared on NDTV.

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