Islamabad, April 18
Two Pakistani boys, who were released by the Indian authorities after they had crossed the border into Rajasthan without travel documents, were today reunited with their families in the southern Sindh province.

Azhar Ali, 18, and his cousin Zohaib Ali, 10, were reunited with their parents at a ceremony organised by the Pakistan Rangers in Hyderabad this morning.

The two boys had left their home in Tando Allahyar town on April 8 after an argument with their parents, said a statement from the NGO, Ansar Burney Trust, which mediated the release. They had crossed the border into Rajasthan last week to meet relatives there, it said.

Their parents learnt about their border crossing and detention by the Indian police after watching a news report on them on a TV channel earlier this week.

Following the intervention of the Ansar Burney Trust and discussions between the Pakistan Rangers and the Border Security Force, the two boys were released by the Indian police and handed over to the Pakistani authorities at the Khokrapar check post last night. The Indian authorities said they were sent back to their country last evening since nothing incriminating was found against them during interrogation.

Azhar told reporters, “We wanted to go across the border and meet our relatives in India. We crossed the border on foot at 9 pm on Friday and there was no one at the frontier.” He said while leaving home, they had taken with them Saudi currency, which their family had obtained for a planned trip to Saudi Arabia to perform the ‘Umra Haj’.

The boys had exchanged the Saudi currency for Indian rupees before crossing the border. — PTI