NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
The first batch of 2681 Amarnath pilgrims on Friday left Jammu for the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas amid tight security arrangements.
The pilgrims included 2134 men, 256 women, 15 children and 276 sadhus and left in a fleet of 131 vehicles, the police said.
The fleet of vehicles carrying the pilgrims has crossed Udhampur, 66 km from Jammu, when reports last came in.
Elaborate security arrangements have been put into place for the month-long Amarnath yatra with police and paramilitary troops deployed at main camping sites, official sources said.
Security has been beefed up at Jammu and on the national highway upto Khanabal in Kashmir and onwards from Pahalgam up to the holy cave situated at a height of 3952 meters, the sources said.
Security vehicles will escort the pilgrims during the journey. Two monitoring teams have been constituted with senior officers from various departments as members and additional deputy commissioner, Jammu, as nodal officer for on-the-spot assessment and inspection of the arrangements.
As many as 97,853 people have registered for the yatra
On Thursday, the strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway had to be closed as militants and security forces engaged in a fierce encounter lasting several hours at Banihal town in Baramulla district.
Traffic movement was restored by Thursday evening.
Nearby is the Jawahar tunnel across Pir Panjal mountain range after which the uphill journey to the cave shrine in the Himalayas begins.
On Thursday night, police in Qazi Gund had to use batons to stop and disperse nearly 200 pilgrims making their way to Pahalgam, which is on the way to the Amarnath shrine.
The pilgrims began a dharna and blocked the highway. Senior police officers are trying to persuade them to stay back at Qazi Gund in view of the security scenario.
AN EARLIER REPORT 5 pilgrims among 11 killed in blast on Amarnath route in 2001
More reports on the Amarnath yatra
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
