Srinagar, Oct 26 - Seventeen people, including 10 children and four women, Friday crossed the line of control (LoC) illegally in north Kashmir's Uri sector to return to their homes on the Indian side and have been detained, police said.'Seventeen civilians crossed the LoC at Gohalan in Uri sector to return to their homes in Nambla and Gohalan villages on this side of the LoC,' a police officer told IANS.Reports reaching here said they had crossed over to Pakistani Kashmir in 1990 and had been living there.'They had been camping at the LoC for the last two days and refused to go back despite persuasion from the authorities. They have now been taken into custody to ascertain their antecedents,' the official said.This is the first time when members of a displaced family, which had crossed over to Pakistani Kashmir, have voluntarily -- though illegally -- returned to their home on the Indian side.While authorities are tight-lipped about the fate of these civilians, sources told IANS that once their credentials and non-involvement in militancy were established, they would be allowed to live in their old homes in Baramulla district.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
