Diplomat Correspondent
Katra :DD, A Delhi woman pilgrim was arrested when security officials found a loaded pistol in her pocession at the holy Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.
Officials said on Tuesday Jyoti Gupta, presenting herself as a retired police constable, was stopped with the gun and six bullets of ammunition at a checkpoint near the ‘Bhawan’ (sanctum sanctorum) between March 14-15 night.
Authorities concluded that the license on the firearm in the possession of Gupta had run out about two years ago. Police have lodged an FIR and launched an inquiry into the accident.
In another but similar incident, another pilgrim, Sanjay Singh from Uttar Pradesh, was booked after security staff discovered two cartridges in his luggage near the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan on Monday. The incident exposes the stringent security arrangements at the much-popular pilgrimage destination that welcomes thousands of devotees on a daily basis.DD