MUZAFFARABAD: Two young boys from the Neelum valley have been taken into custody by the Indian army after they inadvertently crossed the Line of Control (LoC), their parents told local police on Wednesday.

Wasalat, 13, and Moham­mad Iftikhar, 14, students of 8th class in a private school in Barian village, crossed the Line of Control from Simari Terban village on the left bank of the Neelum River on Tuesday afternoon.

Many villagers saw the boys crossing the unmarked dividing line following which they were detained by the Indian army and shifted to some place in an army vehicle, their parents said.

They appealed to the governments of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the army leadership to take up the issue with Indian authorities to secure return of their children.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2017