HYDERABAD, April 18: Two boys, who ran away from home and were detained by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) after they crossed the border last week, were reunited with their families here on Friday.

The disappearance of the 16-year-old Azhar Ali and his nine-year-old cousin Zohaib Ali was noticed on April 8, prompting their families to mount a frantic search.

Azhar’s father, Nadir Ali, deals in electronic items while Zohaib’s father, Jaffar Ali, is a vegetable seller.

The two families contacted their relatives in Sindh and Punjab, but did not receive any information about the boys. After this they lodged an FIR.

The parents of the boys were traumatised when they learnt through a news channel that they had been caught by India’s Border Security Force (BSF). “We had lost all hope of ever seeing our sons again because of recent border-related incidents,” said Nadir Ali.

The matter was eventually taken up by the Sindh unit of Pakistan Rangers with their Indian counterparts. Even then it took a great deal to convince the BSF that the children were not spies. They remained in detention for seven days in India’s border area of Gadar, in Rajasthan state.

The Commandant of Qasim Rangers, Brig Khushnood Ali, handed over the children to their parents at a ceremony at the Qasim Rangers’ headquarters. He praised the media for highlighting the humanitarian issue.

He, however, cautioned people living in border areas to be careful about their children lest they crossed borders mistakenly and find themselves in trouble.

He said that there was an understanding between the Rangers and the BSF authorities that villagers who cross borders mistakenly would be repatriated. “We approached our counterparts in India and the boys were released after a thorough investigation.”

The boys’ parents and relatives were overjoyed when the boys rejoined them. Their mothers hugged them with tearful eyes and praised the media for highlighting their plight.

Jaffar Ali said that his son had decided to leave home after he scolded Zohaib for not taking interest in his studies. But it was Azhar who had persuaded Zohaib to accompany him to India so as to meet movie stars.

In 1998, Azhar Ali had accompanied his parents to India. He is now studying in class X in Government High School Tando Allahyar. He missed his chance to appear in the class IX’ supplementary examination because of the escapade.

The story narrated by boys to the media is mind-boggling. They kept trudging along for hours in the desert, but went unnoticed even after crossing into India.

“He got hold of the 5,500 riyals which I had saved to meet my expenses during my planned Umrah. He got them converted into Indian rupees from a moneychanger in Hyderabad before they left Tando Allahyar,” Nadir Ali said.

His son said: “We stopped in Mirpurkhas before walking to Shadi Palli and onwards to New Chhore – a cantonment area bordering India where civilians are not supposed to enter without authorisation.

Speaking about their week-long stay in India, Azhar said all they had with them were their clothes and some money.

“I wanted to get a passport so that I could visit India. Some of my relatives live in Jodhpur. I asked Zohaib to accompany me and told him we would roam all over India and meet film stars. The idea attracted him and we set out for India,” said Azhar. According to the two boys, they did not encounter anyone during their trek from Khokhropar to New Chhore.

“We saw Indian security personnel (on patrol) but we hid ourselves. Then we dug our way beneath the barbed wires and crossed the border only to find ourselves in trouble,” one of the boys said. When they told the BSF men that they had come from Pakistan they took them into custody. The BSF grilled them for days and employed psychological tactics to extract “correct information”.

“They beat us and kept us blindfolded”, said Zohaib.