Sanjay Dutt offers prayers at Vaishno Devi

Jammu, Sep 3: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt paid obeisance at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine situated at high altitude of Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir late last night.

Dutt was accompanied by girlfriend Manyata along with three other friends, sources said. His religious journey started with a trek from Ban Ganga to Bhawan by pony at 1000 hrs.

He reached Bhawan after 0015 hrs and prayed for his acquittal in the serial bomb blasts case.

He returned early this morning from Bhawan to Katra and left for Mumbai via Delhi.

The cinestar has had a long association with the Vaishno Devi shrine and is a regular visitor there. He had visited the shrine on his release on bail earlier also and was present there a couple of months before the announcement of his sentence.

However, VIP treatment was not provided to the actor following his conviction in the serial blasts case, said Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board additional Chief Executive Officer (ACEO) Puneet Kumar.

''We have not received any intimation of Sanjay Dutt's visit or request for priority darshans for his group. As he is not a VIP, how we can arrange special treatment for him,'' SMVB, CEO told the sources.

Dutt was not accorded VIP status as he had been convicted in a terrorist case by the court of the land and was out from jail on bail. How could the board provide VIP treatment to him, Board sources asked.

However, he was provided with an official red-beacon car and police escort on his trip to the shrine by the Jammu and Kashmir police department.

Earlier, he had visited the Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi, Siddhi Vinayak and another temple at Ahmednagar, before embarking on his trip to Jammu.

The 'Munnabhai' was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and awarded six-year rigorous imprisonment by a TADA court.

UNI