Cross LoC bus service suspended

Jammu/Srinagar Feb 9 (IANS) The cross-LoC (Line of Control) bus service scheduled for Monday has been suspended following the impasse over trade across the frontier, the authorities said.

"Following the impasse in the cross LoC trade on Friday, after a driver belonging to Muzaffarabad was arrested following recovery of narcotic substances from his vehicle, today's run of cross LoC bus service from Chakan Da Bagh (Poonch) and Aman Setu (Baramulla) has been cancelled," a senior officer supervising cross-LoC trade and travel told IANS in Jammu.

The service between the Indian and Pakistani administered parts of Jammu and Kashmir operates every Monday from Poonch and Baramulla districts of the state.

Four people including Anayat Hussain, driver of the truck from which 307 packets of narcotic substance were recovered Friday, and three local traders namely Zahoor Ahmad, Abdul Majeed and Muhammad Yusuf were detained by Jammu and Kashmir police.

In retaliation, Pakistan authorities detained 50 trucks that had gone to Chakoti trade facilitation centre from here with goods Friday.

Officials here said a meeting is likely to be held in the afternoon between officials of Indian and Pakistan administered parts at Aman Setu near the Kaman Post in Uri sector of the LoC to resolve the impasse.

Cross LoC bus service was started in April 2005 and the cross LoC trade was started in October 2008.