Efforts on to get soldier freed from Pak captivity: Rajnath

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday the government was making all efforts to secure the freedom of the Indian Army jawan in Pakistani captivity, the Indian media reported. Chandu Babulal Chauhan (22) of 37 Rashtriya Rifles with weapons inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control, the army said in a statement.

“The government has taken note of the media reports that say our soldier is in Pakistan captivity… India will take up the matter with Pakistan,” the home minister said.The Indian Army, which claimed to have stunned Pakistan with its ‘surgical strike’ at terror camps across the Line of Control, has clarified that the soldier was not a part of the operation.

The news that Pakistan captured Chauhan came hours after India announced that it had on Wednesday night successfully conducted alleged surgical strikes, killing more than 30 militants in Azad Kashmir. In a statement, the army said that such inadvertent crossing by soldiers and civilians were not unusual on either side, and they were returned through existing mechanisms. —Monitoring report