Amid elaborate security arrangements, the first batch of 11000 pilgrims left for Amarnath yatra Thursday from Pahalgam and Baltal base camps towards the Holy cave shrine in south Himalayas.
An official spokesman said 4169 pilgrims left from traditional Pahalgam route and 6782 from Baltal route for the Holy Cave.
“On the first day of the yatra, 8401 pilgrims paid obeisance at the Holy Cave,” he said.
Reports said security along Jammu-Anantnag-Srinagar National Highway and trek en-route cave shrine has been tightened with Police, Army , CRPF and BSF contingents deployed all along the routes.
When reporters asked about the threat from the militants to the Yatra, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anantnag Muhammad Jabbar said: “We have adopted elaborate security measures and strengthened our intelligence grid and are up against any kind of challenge.”
Thousands of pilgrims each year undertake the Amarnath Yatra to the shrine cave to worship the ice Shivlingum, the symbol of Lord Shiva, the god of destruction and regeneration.
The yatra will conclude on August 29. Meanwhile, Army launched ‘Operation Shiva’ on Thursday, with 7,500 soldiers assigned to locate a group of terrorists reportedly entered Kashmir from across the border to disrupt the pilgrimage.
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