BSF repatriates six Pak men who entered India accidentally

THE MEN, ALL BETWEEN 14-25 IN AGE, WERE CAUGHT AFTER THEY ENTERED THE INDIAN TERRITORY BY CROSSING THE ZERO LINE

AMRITSAR: In a goodwill gesture, the Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday repatriated six Pakistanis, who had inadvertently crossed over to India, via the Attari-Wagah border, on Friday. A BSF team handed over the six men to Pakistani Rangers about 5.30pm.

The men, all between 14-25 in age, were caught after they entered the Indian territory by crossing the zero line across the barbed-wire fence, said BSF officials. They added their investigation had found that Pakistanis had entered Indian territory “inadvertently”.

The six men have been identified as Muhammad Asif, 25, Muhammad Umar Farooq, 21, Muhammad Aarif, 22, Muhammad Arsalan, 14, of Kokar village, Raja Abbas, 19, and Saukat, 18, of Himmat village of Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunwa province of Pakistan.

“Two of them had android mobile phones, while three had feature phones. Nothing incriminating was found neither from their possession nor from their cell phones,” said a senior BSF official, who didn’t wish to be named, adding, “We informed Pakistan Rangers and sought confirmation of their identity. After the Rangers responded, we released them.”

He added, “The six men were deployed for paint work in a school across the border. They were just roaming around, when they strayed into our territory.”

Last year too, the BSF had repatriated six Pakistanis who had inadvertently crossed the border “on humanitarian grounds”. Last month, the jawans of BSF had gunned down two armed Pakistani intruders near Rajatal village of Amritsar, along the India-Pakistan border.