Jammu: The BSF trooper who was swept away into Pakistan by strong currents in the Chenab river was ‘treated with honour and dignity’ and on Friday handed over to Indian officials at the international border in Jammu district, officials said.
Satyasheel Yadav of the 33 Battalion was handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) company commander by the Pakistan Rangers during a 40-minute flag meeting at an octroi post on the Pakistan side of the border, near Suchetgarh sector in Jammu district.
Yadav, who was part of a water patrol party of the BSF in Akhnoor area of the international border, was carried by the swift river current to Bajwaat village in Sialkot area of Pakistan after their motorboat developed a mechanical fault on Wednesday.
BSF Director General D.K. Pathak said Pakistani authorities treated the trooper ‘very well’.
Addressing the media at the Miran Sahib headquarters of the BSF in R.S. Pura, Pathak said: “Pakistani authorities treated Satyasheel Yadav with dignity and honour during the period he remained in their custody.”
Yadav, who was present during the press briefing, confirmed that he was treated with dignity by the Pakistani authorities.
Asked how Yadav was swept away to Pakistan while three of his colleagues managed to swim to safety when their patrol boat developed a mechanical fault, the director general said Yadav did not know how to swim. “He was, however, wearing a life jacket that protected him from drowning,” he said. (IANS)