Pilgrims at Panchtarni base camp after the Amarnath Yatra was temporarily suspended for the third consecutive day due to bad weather, in Anantnag district, on Sunday, July 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah on Monday, July 10, expressed his appreciation for the honesty of two police officials — an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and a Head Constable (HC) of Jammu and Kashmir Police — after they traced a woman pilgrim and returned her lost bag containing ₹80,000 and some documents.
Mr. Shah took to Twitter to applaud the acts of the two Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel terming their act “true heroism”.
“True heroism lies in our acts of honour and honesty that leave an indelible mark on the lives we touch. ASI Mr. Darshan Kumar and HC Mr. Satpal of the J&K Police proved this saying correct. They found a bag that contained ₹80,000, a mobile phone, and Yatra documents. They traced out its owner, a pilgrim, and handed it over to her. I appreciate them for being an example of integrity,” Mr. Shah tweeted.
The tweet also carried the pictures of the two police personnel handing over the bag to the pilgrim who arrived at the Union Territory to offer her prayers at the sacred Amarnath cave pilgrimage situated at an altitude of 3,888 metres in the south Kashmir Himalayas.
Notably, the annual Amarnath Yatra began on July 1. The 62-day pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave, which is an abode of Lord Shiva, will culminate on August 31.
The annual Amarnath Yatra remained suspended temporarily on both routes — Baltal (Ganderbal district) and Nunwan (Pahalgam district) — due to inclement weather conditions that triggered multiple landslides along the 270 km–long Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district three days ago.
The annual Amarnath Yatra resumed in the afternoon of Sunday, July 9, on the Pahalgam route, following an improvement in weather conditions, officials said, adding that the Yatra on the other route, Baltal, is yet to resume.
On Sunday, July 9, however, authorities stopped a batch of devotees at the Jammu Base camp due to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Following the suspension of the Yatra, 6,000 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims were stranded at Ramban, officials said.