Amid tight security arrangements, officials said that over 1.76 lakh pilgrims had visited the famous cave shrine of Vaishno Devi during the first six days of the ‘Navratri’ festival in Katra town.

Located 42 kilometres from the winter capital, Jammu, along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, Katra — the base camp for the pilgrims — was decked up to welcome devotees from across the country abroad.

During the past six days, officials said that 1,76,174 pilgrims had visited the shrine atop Trikuta hills after trekking 12 kilometres from the base camp.

The highest 37,381 pilgrims visited the cave shrine on the first day of ‘Navratra’ on April 2, followed by 33,340 on the second Navratra, 29,078 on the 3rd, 27,302 on 4th, 29,078 on the 5th and over 20,000 on the 6th day, they said.

On average, over 27,000 pilgrims visit the cave shrine daily amid strict monitoring by the authorities to avoid the rush.
On Sunday, the nine-day festival will conclude with ‘Purna Ahuti’ on ‘Mahanavami’.

Arrangements were in place to control the flow of thousands of pilgrims to avoid any untoward incident, as the chilling memories of the stampede on the New Year here, which claimed 12 lives, are still afresh.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central security agencies to make a foolproof plan for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra, which is set to begin on June 30, sources have said.

The Ministry has directed the deployment of more than 40,000 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and also other troopers from paramilitary forces, the sources further said. The registration for the annual pilgrimage will begin on April 11. During the yatra, all the registered pilgrims will be given an RFID tag, which will ensure the person’s exact location at all times.

J&K Police DG Dilbag Singh had recently said that a tight vigil is being maintained on social media platforms. However, these platforms can be misused to create fake narratives and keep the terror ecosystem alive in the union territory.

The 2022 yatra comes after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Officials in the union territory have said that they expect a large footfall as the pandemic is currently on a decline, due to which lodging camps for the devotees have been increased.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to review the preparation of the Amarnath Yatra during a high-level meeting before the pilgrimage, the MHA officials said. The 43-day pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine will end on August 11.

Officials said three people, who were among those holding a protest demanding the repair of drinking water supply pipes, were killed after a truck accidentally knocked them down in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district.

They said that three others were injured and shifted to the district hospital.

The officials mentioned that the truck driver failed to negotiate a blind curve and rammed into a few people who were staging a protest demanding that the pipes supplying drinking water to their hamlet in the Chenani area be repaired.

The three injured people were receiving specialised treatment, but one of them was in a critical condition, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Indu Chib said.

The officer said the district administration had ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The government on Friday attached three Motor Vehicle Inspectors of the Motor Vehicles Department in the office of the Regional Transport Officer, Jammu, with immediate effect till further orders.

According to an order by Hirdesh Kumar (IAS) Commissioner/Secretary to Government, Transport Department, the MVIs include Asif Amin Chalkoo, working in the O/o ARTO, Anantnag, Manzoor Ahmad Qurashi, also working in the O/o ARTO, Anantnag and Hakeem Shahid Mehboob, working in the O/o ARTO, Ganderbal.

The government order follows registration of Case (FIR No. 04/2021) police station Anti Corruption Bureau, Anantnag under section 7 of the PC Act, 1988 and Section 120-B IPC against officers/officials of ARTO Office Anantnag and Ganderbal.

Intending to promote tourism in the district, the Floriculture department, in collaboration with District administration Ramban, opened Tulip Garden at Sanasar, marking the beginning of the new tourist season. The Chairperson of the District Development Council, Dr Shamshad Shan, formally inaugurated the Tulip Garden in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner, Ramban Mussarat Islam, at the famous tourist place Sanasar -established by the Floriculture department.

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DDC Councilors, Director Floriculture, Dr Jatinder Singh, SSP Mohita Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Harbans Lal Sharma, Addl. SP, Rajni Sharma, Joint Director Floriculture, Sunil Singh, Floriculture Officer Ishtyaq Ahmed, Executive Engineer Darshan Kumar and other officers besides tourists and locals were present at the function coordinated by the Assistant Floriculture Officer, Ramban/Udhampur, Arjun Singh.

After the inauguration, the Chairperson appreciated the Floriculture Department and District Administration for developing a beautiful tulip garden at Sanasar. She also appreciated the Government’s decision to expand the Tulip garden to include the addition of 40 Kanal land provided by the PDA to the department at Sanasar. She also asked the Director of Floriculture to develop a rose garden at Sanasar to attract tourists in all seasons.

Speaking on occasion, the Deputy Commissioner congratulated the Floriculture department on establishing a beautiful blooming Tulip garden at Sanasar.

The DC also advised the locals to conduct different activities to promote their local culture and folklore to attract tourists. Furthermore, he assured to take up the repair and renovation of Patnitop to Sanasar road in the stipulated time frame.

Meanwhile, the PRIs and locals expressed gratitude to the Floriculture department for developing the tulip garden at Sanasar, which helped attract tourists in March and April.

In his address, the Director Floriculture said that Jammu and Kashmir are endowed with unparalleled beauty and natural landscapes that have huge tourism potential.

While informing about major projects completed by the Floriculture Department, the Director announced that the Government had sanctioned a project of Rs 7 crore to develop the largest Tulip Garden of Jammu division over 40 Kanal land at Sanasar.

HITANSHU SHARMA

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Chaitali Gohil

Prachi Mahajan

MANNAT BALOTRA

Two teenagers allegedly drowned while bathing in a river in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district, officials said on Friday.

Also Read: J&K Bank Scam: ED did not accuse me of anything: Omar Abdullah

They said that the deceased Sushma Devi (14) and Pooja Devi (15) went to the river while returning from school in the Kagote area on Thursday.

The girls slipped into the deeper side of the river and eventually got drowned.

The villagers recovered their bodies, the officials said.

In a setback to the National Conference, its minority cell president MK Yogi on Friday resigned to protest against the party leadership’s alleged failure to recognise the work of ground activists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Also Read: Registration For Amarnath Yatra 2022 To Begin From April 11

Dozens of top leaders, including lawmakers, have left the party over various issues in the past six months.

“I am tendering my resignation from the post of president minority cell and the party’s basic membership,” Yogi told reporters here.

In a letter to the president and vice-president of the NC, Yogi charged the party’s leadership with pursuing their agenda instead of strengthening the party and its workers.

“Having served NC for the last 27 years, I painfully record my annoyance with its leadership for pursuing their agenda and not recognising the sincere work of ground workers”, he said.

Yogi said he gave his whole life to this party, but his work was not recognised. “Therefore, I am resigning from the party”, he said.

“While remaining in the party, I am unable to serve the people of my community, which has been the aim and purpose of my life”, he said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Thursday expressed dismay and shock over the incident in which two civilians sustained bullet injuries in the leg following an altercation between locals and the army while later was making a video of afternoon prayers in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Also Read: J&K: Three killed after motorcycle hits road divider

Admonishing the act of security forces barging into a religious place, profiling worshippers and shooting civilians at will without any fear of justice, Mehbooba, as per a statement issued to the news agency, said that such incidents highlight the level of unaccountability pervasive across institutions in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Government of India’s interference in religious matters by its unwarranted surveillance of a simple act of offering prayers shows that Kashmiris pay dearly for the illusion of Naya Kashmir,” she tweeted. PDP President also told the authorities to see to it that such incidents do not take place in future and fix responsibility on the perpetrators of this shameful act.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who was questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in connection with a bank scam, said the central agency did not accuse him while adding that he will cooperate with the probe.

Also Read: Two Former MLAs From J&K To Join AAP

“They (ED) did not accuse me of anything. They called me for questioning in connection with an ongoing investigation of a 12-13-year-old case. I answered them as much as I could. I will further help them if they need me,” Abdullah told media persons.

ED questioned Abdullah here in the national capital for five and a half hours connected to Jammu and Kashmir Bank scam case on Thursday.

Abdullah appeared before the investigators around 11 am at ED’s headquarters. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) leader was earlier summoned by the ED and was asked to visit its Delhi office on Thursday.

The ED officials took the statement of Abdullah, who is accused of opening several accounts in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, with the help of his close aides, including Ahsan Mirza, who was authorized to sign cheques. Mirza, though not an elected office bearer, was appointed “treasurer” of JK Cricket Association (JKCA) by Abdullah, its president, while parallel accounts of JKCA were opened in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank in connivance with a senior executive of the bank, said sources.

The role of the senior executive of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, now retired, is also under scrutiny for helping the former Chief Minister open the accounts with the bank based on “inadequate” documents.

In 2007, the then-elected treasurer of JKCA, Mir Manzoor Gazanfar, brought these “illegal” transactions to the notice of JKCA president Abdullah who allegedly ignored the anomalies.

Gazanfar has informed ED that Mirza was appointed treasurer in 2003 and was transferring the money to unauthorized accounts at Abdullah’s instance.

The ED had also questioned Abdullah in July 2019 based on the statements of Mirza and his other associates, who the agency had earlier questioned.