Number of Amarnath pilgrims declines to 68

Jammu, Aug 10: A fresh batch of 68 pilgrims left the base camp here for the Amarnath cave shrine in South Kashmir under tight security cover, an official spokesman said.

The pilgrims, including 12 women, 18 sadhus and three children, left the base camp at 0515 hrs, the spokesman told the sources.

This was the seasons' smallest batch of pilgrims which left in two buses for the Amarnath cave shrine, the spokesman said.

Hundreds of people had cancelled their plans for pilgrimage following massive protests and subsequent curfew restrictions in the winter capital city of the state.

The two-month-long Amarnath pilgrimage started from here on June 17.

UNI