No youth has returned from PoK through identified routes: Govt

"Till date, 1082 applications have been received on behalf of persons presently in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who intend to return," minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani told the Legislative Council.

"Out of these, 218 cases have been recommended. The rest of the applications are being scrutinised and verified," he said in reply to a question by PDP member Murtaza Khan,

However, the minister said out of 1082 applicants, 66 people, some with their families, had returned illegally via Nepal and other routes.

He said the government, in consultations with the Union Home ministry, had identified Wagah border, PCP Attari, Salamabad (Baramulla), Chakandabagh (Poonch) and Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi as routes for the return of such youth.

The minister said none of the 66 returnees was in jail but added a woman named Aseema, wife of Mohammad Latief of Chadoora in Budgam, was presently lodged in Poonch district jail as she had crossed the border in May 2012, much before the policy was implemented.