Three held for preparing fake permits

Our Correspondent

Jammu, July 2

The Jammu police have arrested three persons from Delhi for selling fake permits to Amarnath pilgrims. So far, over 430 pilgrims have been found carrying fake permits for the Amarnath Yatra.

SSP Chandan Kohli said that during the examination of pilgrims’ registration slips, the administration had found some of them possessing fake permits. “An investigation was set into motion wherein it came to the fore that these devotees had been duped by a racket being run from Delhi wherein fake registration slips were being provided to the pilgrims,” the SSP informed.

430 forged slips found

• So far, over 430 pilgrims have been found carrying fake permits for the Amarnath Yatra in Jammu, Kathua and Samba.
• After making the arrest, the Jammu police have seized a computer and a printer used to issue fake slips to pilgrims.
• The Jammu police have appealed to the pilgrims to register themselves only through the notified government means.

A case was registered at the Trikuta Nagar police station and an investigation set into motion. A police team arrested one Harender Verma, a resident of West Rohtas Nagar, Shahdara in Delhi. Later, two of his associates — Daleep Prajapati and Vinod Kumar — were also arrested.

“The main accused was involved in the preparation of fake registration slips while the other two associates were indulged in arranging bus service and medical certificates for devotees,” the SSP informed. During the raid, a computer and a printer used in the crime were also seized.

The Jammu police have appealed to the pilgrims to register themselves only through the notified government means.

As many as 300 fake permits were found from pilgrims in Jammu district while 65 fake documents were found in Kathua and 68 in Samba.

The issue of fake slips has been surfacing for the past two days. On Saturday, several pilgrims, stuck due to fake slips, had requested the administration of the Union Territory to resolve their issue by issuing them fresh papers to undertake the Yatra.

The J&K unit of the Congress had demanded stern action against those who cheated the pilgrims. Congress chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma had on Saturday stated that the government and the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board should have adopted a foolproof system to avoid such a fraud with the pilgrims. “The government should identify the cheats and recover the amount misappropriated besides facilitating the victim pilgrims to undertake the yatra as soon as possible,” Sharma had said.

He also appealed to the local people to extend their full support to the pilgrims in line with the age-old tradition and hospitality.

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