The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service Karawan-e-Aman

SRINAGAR: The Karvan-e-Aman bus, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) left here on Monday to cross over to other side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector in north Kashmir district of Baramulla, official sources said.

The bus left Bemina, Srinagar with 17 passengers, including four residents of Kashmir, visiting PoK to meet their relatives separated in 1947 due to partition, sources told UNI.

They said the bus has since reached Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC), Salamabad, Uri where more passengers will board it before leaving for Aman Post, the last Indian military post on this side of the LoC in Uri.

The exact number of passengers travelling to PoK will be known only in the afternoon they added.

The number of returnees and PoK guests will also be known in the evening, they said.

The bus service, introduced on April 7, 2005, despite opposition by militants, has helped thousands of families, divided due to partition, to meet each other.