rediff.com: India repatriates Pakistani soldier


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Friday
September 6, 2002
1935 IST

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India repatriates Pakistani soldier

A Pakistani soldier, who had reportedly deserted his unit and crossed over to India in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, was handed over to the Pakistan Rangers at a flag meeting at Suchetgarh in Jammu on Friday.

Pakistan's request for the repatriation of Owais Mustafa, a soldier of the Pakistani Army's 647 Mujahid Battalion, was conveyed by the director general of military operations to his Indian counterpart during a telephonic conversation on June 4.

The Indian authorities decided to repatriate the soldier on humanitarian grounds and as a gesture of goodwill, a defence ministry official said in New Delhi.

The Border Security Force handed Mustafa over to the Pakistan Rangers at the flag meeting in the presence of doctors from both sides.

The Indian Army had previously released two Pakistani Army personnel in similar circumstances.

On June 14, 2001, Lance Naik Mukarram Hussain was repatriated at Suchetgarh and on January 15, 2002, Naik Hakim Khan was handed over to the Pakistani authorities in the Kutch sector.

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