``Saathi (friend), we want to return a body,'' he shouts. White flags suddenly appear on both sides but there is no response from across the LoC. The JCO shouts again. This time there's a response. ``Identify him,'' says the voice from across the LoC. Reading from a scrap of paper, the JCO names the Pakistani soldier a jawan from the Northern Light Infantry.

``We will get back to you,'' the voice says. And then there is silence.At the Indian post, troops patiently wait for a maulvi. The Pakistani soldier's body, covered with a white shroud, lies on a stretcher on the ground. ``No maulvi is coming,'' says a young soldier running down from the Signals phone room. ``The only one available says he is too old and cannot walk for an hour to reach this post.''

The JCO calls up his officer and asks his men to find a Muslim soldier. ``Alive, he was our enemy,'' he says, pointing towards the body. ``But dead, he is neither an Indian nor a Pakistani. And a dead man deserves some respect.''

A Muslim soldier from the nearby Rashtriya Rifles establishment is summoned to carry out the last rites. And then once again, the loud hailer crackles. ``That is not our body,'' says the voice. ``We have nobody by that name.'' The white flag comes down on the other side. Indian soldiers follow suit.

This isn't the first time Pakistan has refused to accept the body of their soldier. ``What more identification do they want? We have identified the bodies of their soldiers not only by documents found on their person but also by names and identification numbers on the sole of their boots. Yet they say that the bodies are not theirs,'' said an officer.

One reason could be that officially, Pakistan claims that the intruders aren't their soldiers, they are freedom fighters. But to keep this facade, they often deny the undeniable, say Army officers.

Result: Indian soldiers have an added responsibility, disposing of the dead. The body cannot remain at the post, the decision isn't difficult. It has been taken earlier too. ``Bury it somewhere,'' says an experienced Sikh soldier, and four young jawans carry it some distance away from the post. Here they begin digging a grave in the hard rock of the mountains. It's difficult, sparks fly as the axes hit the rocks, the soldiers sweat, they tie hankies around their faces to keep the stench away.