Almost two weeks after the Indian Army said that an Indian soldier had "inadvertently" crossed the Line of Control (LoC) into Pakistan-occupied territory, Pakistan on Thursday officially announced that the soldier was in their custody.
According to the Indian Army, on 29 September, the night when India carried out surgical strikes across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), 22-year-old Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan had accidentally crossed the border and had been captured by the Pakistan army.
Pakistan DGMO acknowledges it has Army Jawan Chandu Chavan in custody: Army sources
— ANI (@ANI_news) October 13, 2016
According to a report in The Indian Express, the Pakistan army's military operations directorate confirmed Chavan's whereabouts to India on their official hotline.
The accidental crossing over of soldiers into neighbouring territory is apparently a common occurrence, according to The Pioneer. "Such 'inadvertent crossing' by the Army and civilians are not unusual on either side. They are returned through existing mechanisms," the paper reported.
Now friends and family of Chavan, who hails from Maharashtra and was posted with 37 Rashtriya Rifles at Mendhar along the LoC in in Jammu and Kashmir, are hoping that they will see him soon.
Also On HuffPost: