SUCHETGARH (International Border), JULY 13: An eerie calm prevailed all over the 10-km belt of the International Border here. It was after a long time that the guns on both sides had fallen silent. The pock-marked gate and the boundary wall narrated the story of previous nights.The truce this time was not for any major reason. Another body was to be handed over from the Octroi Post here, this time of a Pakistani soldier killed on Wednesday morning while trying to intrude into the Indian side near the Line of Control (LoC) in Sunderbani, Rajouri.The documents recovered from the slain soldier identified him as Sepoy Karamat Hussain Shah of 3 Platoon, Alfa Company, 654 Mujahid Battalion. Two other fellow soldiers accompanying him were killed, but their bodies were dragged by Pakistani soldiers across the border.As the body arrived from Sunderbani, tension gripped the 200-km stretch between the gates of the Indian Octroi Post and Peelu Post of Pakistan, where the body was to be handed over.The BSF men rushed towards the Pakistani post to inform about the arrival of the body. One could see similar activity on their side. The BSF officers asked the media to be careful, as their (Pakistani) tempers were high and they could even open fire.``I would like only few of you to visit the post. As nobody knows about their mood,'' said Brig Baghwan Singh of 162 Infantry Brigade, who was accompanying his jawans during the handover.Shravan Singh, an elderly villager, recalled how several decades back this stretch used to be brimming with activity. At that time a bus would ply from Jammu to Sialkot, 11 kms from Suchetgarh. ``Then, I never had an inkling one day this road will get out of bound for us. Instead of sharing love and camaraderie, we will be exchanging bullets and handing over bodies,'' Shravan said.The Pakistani Army officers arrived one-and-half hour late than the scheduled time of 11.30. The moment the BSF jawan brought information of their arrival, the eight jawans of 152 Punjab Regiment, who for quite long had been standing with a coffin covered with the Pakistani flag, started moving towards Peelu Post.The handover was completed only after Captain Nasir, an Army doctor from Pakistan, gave a certificate that the body was of their jawan. Pakistani officers present included Wing Commander Mohammad Raza, Lt Col Mohammad Salim, Captain Mehmood and Major Bukhari.While the handover was on, a BSF sentry guarding the pillar post said he was very happy today. Realising that this correspondent had mistook his words, he immediately clarified. ``It is not that a Pakistani soldier has died. But after so many days firing has stopped and I am able to see the faces of villagers on the other side. I am tired holding binoculars and watching the empty land, which shows no signs of life till far, for the whole day,'' the sentry remarked.Then handing over the binoculars to this correspondent, he showed the Pakistani villagers gathered near Pir Baba waiting for their chance to pay obeisance.
