Pakistan returns Uri couple drowned in Jhelum

SRINAGAR: The bodies of a young Kashmiri man and woman who jumped into the Jhelum near the LoC in Uri on March 5 were returned to their families Saturday after being retrieved from separate spots in the river in PoK. The handover took place at Kaman Post bridge, a crossing point originally built for trade and travel between the two sides of Kashmir.

The bridge was opened for the first time since India suspended cross-LoC trade and travel in April 2019, citing concerns that the route was being misused by “Pakistan-based elements for funnelling weapons, narcotics, and fake money”.

Though J&K police and disaster response teams had searched extensively, the bodies were found weeks later in PoK — 19-year-old Asiya Bano’s on March 19 and 22-year-old Yassir Hussain Shah’s on March 21. It wasn’t clear why the two natives of Uri in Baramulla district jumped into the Jhelum, which flows from J&K to Pakistan and joins the Chenub, a tributary of the Indus.

Following a formal request from India, Pakistani authorities agreed to return the bodies. Senior civil and military officers from both countries, along with medical teams, facilitated the transfer at Kaman Post, about 115km east of Srinagar.

“This was a humanitarian effort taken by both nations,” said NC legislator Sajjad Shafi from Uri. “The return of the bodies provides much-needed closure and relief to grieving loved ones.”