Jammu, March 18: A woman pilgrim was arrested after a pistol was recovered from her possession at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, said officials on Tuesday.
The officials said that Jyoti Gupta, claiming to be a retired police constable, belonging to Delhi was arrested after a pistol and six rounds of ammunition were recovered from her at a checking point on the night between March 14 and 15.
“The licence of the weapon expired a few years back. An investigation has been started in the incident,” the officials said.
J&K’s most revered Hindu shrine, the Mata Vaishno Devi temple is located atop the Trikuta Hills in Reasi district at an altitude of 1500 metres.
The cave temple is visited each year by around one crore devotees. The offerings made by the devotees in terms of cash and precious metals run into multiples of crores of rupees each year.
The temple is managed by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), which is headed by J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha.
The Vaishno Devi temple was in existence by 1846 when Maharaja Gulab Singh established the Dharmarth Trust to manage several temples in his territory.
