Pakistani boy, who strayed into India in a cross-border train, returns

Thirteen-year-old Atiq Ahmad was reunited with his family on Friday after he was deported back to Pakistan through Wagah border, within hours of his release from Hoshiarpur.

Ateeq, who accidentally reached India on board the Samjhauta Express on January 13, was received by Sohail Khan, company commander of Pakistan rangers, after the beating retreat ceremony at the Wagah border.

Ateeq was detained by Indian immigration officials at Attari station near Wagah and sent to a juvenile home in Hoshiarpur district.

Moved by the plight of the innocent boy, various NGOs in India and Pakistan got their act together and a juvenile court in Amritsar city acquitted Ateeq on February 26.

"I am feeling very nice. I had quarrelled with my parents and left home. I was caught at Attari border and then lodged in the Hoshiarpur juvenile home," Ateeq said.

Ateeq ran away from his home in Pakistan's Punjab province after his father, Malik Iftikhar, stopped him from flying kites.