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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Pakistani truck driver to face Indian law
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Pakistani truck driver to face Indian law

Truck driver was detained for smuggling heroin into Kashmir through LoC

The stand-off began over the weekend after police in Kashmir seized narcotics worth `100 crore hidden in a truck coming from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Photo: HT Premium
The stand-off began over the weekend after police in Kashmir seized narcotics worth `100 crore hidden in a truck coming from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Photo: HT

New Delhi: The Pakistani truck driver detained for allegedly smuggling heroin into Kashmir through the Line of Control (LoC) will face the full force of the Indian law, foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said Thursday.

The driver does not have any diplomatic immunity as reportedly suggested by Pakistan, he added. “The two foreign offices are in consultations" on how to resolve the issue, Akbaruddin said.

“There is no modality that exempts a person alleged to be involved in a criminal activity from facing the full force of the Indian law. The spirit of confidence-building measures relating to trans-LoC (Line of Control) trade and travel is to bring about humanitarian benefits to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. And therefore to us, it is surprising that these confidence-building measures have been chosen by Pakistan to be held hostage for the sake of persons indulging in drug trafficking," Akbaruddin said.

The stand-off began over the weekend after police in Kashmir seized narcotics worth 100 crore hidden in a truck coming from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), PTI said. The police impounded the truck, containing as many as 114 packets of heroin, and detained the driver, causing Pakistan to retaliate with the detention of 27 trucks carrying goods from India, the report said.

Pakistan also indicated that they would not allow the Srinagar-Muzzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote bus services to run their regular services till the impounded truck and arrested driver were released.

India on Tuesday summoned Pakistan’s acting envoy Mansoor Ahmad to the foreign ministry to protest the stopping of cross-border trade and bus services.

Cross-border trade and bus travel connecting the two regions of Kashmir, which have a number of divided families between them, began in April 2005-06 and October 2008, respectively, aimed at promoting people-to-people contact. The cross-LoC interaction was aimed at softening the borders to make it irrelevant, given the intractability of the Kashmir problem.

The stopping of cross-LoC trade and bus services is the latest in a series of developments to hit ties that were beginning to settle on an even keel after India restarted peace talks with Pakistan in February 2011 following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The beheading of Indian troops along the LoC and firing along the border last year put official dialogue on hold for many months.

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Published: 23 Jan 2014, 07:19 PM IST
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