2nd batch of 5246 Amarnath Yatris leaves Jammu for Kashmir

Jammu, Jul 3: As Amarnath Yatra commenced from twin traditional routes of Pahalgam and Baltal with the first batch of yatris paying obeisance at the Amarnath cave shrine nestled in south Kashmir on Thursday, from Yatri Niwas-Jammu base camp, the second batch of 5246 devotees was flagged off, amid heightened security.

As per officials, in a heavily guarded convoy of 268 vehicles, a total of 4074 men, 795 women devotees, and 19 children, besides 324 Sadhus, 33 Sadhvis, and one transgender, left Bhagwati Nagar base camp on Thursday morning.

A cavalcade of 137 vehicles, including 33 buses carrying 1993 yatris, including 1573 men, 285 women, 15 children, 102 Sadhus, and 18 Sadhvis departed for the Baltal axis at 4:40 am.

A total of 3253 yatris, who opted to undertake the yatra through the Pahalgam route, left Bhagwati Nagar base camp in 131 vehicles, including 73 buses, at 5:42 am.

These yatris included 2501 men, 510 women, four children, 222 Sadhus, 15 Sadhvis, and one transgender.

During the day, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu Zone, Bhim Sen Tuti along with Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Jammu-Kathua-Samba (JKS) Range, Shiv Kumar Sharma visited Lakhanpur to review preparations and security arrangements for the yatra.

IGP Jammu reviewed the security arrangements as well as inspected the reception centres, facilitation centres, registration inspection counters, traffic counters, Joint Control Room (JCR), CCTV cameras, as well as the Facial Recognition System (FRS) installed at Lakhanpur to assess arrangements for the yatra.

DC Kathua Rakesh Minhas; SSP Kathua Shobhit Saxena; senior IPS officer Mukund Tibrewal; SSP Samba Virinder Singh Manhas; Additional SP Kathua Rahul Charak and SDPO Border Dheeraj Katoch along with other officers were present on the occasion.

The IGP emphasised the importance of strengthening security grids and ensuring coordination among all for a smooth yatra.

He also stressed that security and facilitation of yatris were top priorities for the J&K Police and administration.

IGP Tuti delineated the importance of close synergy and coordination among all officers involved to ensure a peaceful and secure conduct of the yatra.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had flagged off the first batch of yatris from Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir on July 2.

On Wednesday evening, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar; IGP Jammu, Bhim Sen Tuti accompanied by DC Jammu Sachin Kumar Vaishya and other senior officers of civil and Police administration visited the Yatri Niwas at Bhagwati Nagar to assess the facilities and operational preparedness and interacted with the yatris who expressed satisfaction vis-à-vis arrangements made for them.

The Divisional Commissioner and the IGP also held a review meeting with the officers of different departments and directed them to ensure that the yatra should not face any inconvenience.

The yatris shared their spiritual resolve to undertake the yatra without any fear or apprehension.

“Even if there was even a slight apprehension, it dissipated here after witnessing excellent arrangements and overwhelming presence of security personnel,” they said.

Meanwhile, J&K Traffic Police reiterated its yatra advisory issued on June 27, 2025, with the caution for yatris to travel only in the official escorted convoy from Jammu and avoid independent travel.