Thursday, April 14 2005 20:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Wagah: Twenty-four Pakistani prisoners, languishing in the various jails in India, were repatriated to their country at the international border In Wagah today (Apr 14, 2005) in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of President Pervez Musharraf's visit to New Delhi.

Of the 24 prisoners, seven were lodged in the Amritsar Central Jail, while others were brought here from prisons in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Rajasthan.

Most of the prisoners had inadvertently strayed in to Indian territory.

One Muhammad Sharif, a resident of Pak-occupied-Kashmir said, he was working in his field and crossed the Line of Control unknowingly while chasing a buffalo.

"I was arrested and confined in the Rajouri jail for five years," he said.

In March, Musharraf had released 529 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails for over a year.

Punjab Minister for Food and Civil Supply Avtar Henry was present during the repatriation ceremony, while Jail Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province Syeed Akbar received the Pakistani nationals at the zero line on the International Border at Wagah.

Henry said, "Efforts are being made on war footing level to repatriate 160 more Pakistani prisoners, 40 of whom are in the Punjab jails and remaining 120 are in other jails, sentenced for minor offences."

Repatriation of the prisoners was delayed by a day, as Emergency Travel Documents, mandatory to cross the international border, could not reach in Wagah yesterday (Apr 13, 2005).