Three pilgrims die of illness during Manimahesh Yatra

DHARAMSHALA: Three pilgrims died due to illness en-route to the 13,390-feet high glacial-fed Manimahesh Lake in the remote Bharmour sub-division of Chamba district on Saturday.

Bharmour sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Jitender Kanwar said that Kanta Devi (60) and Sanjay Kotwal (53) from Jammu and Kashmir died due to illness. Kanta Devi died at Gauri Kund, one km before the destination, while Kotwal died at Dhancho, a halting point that comes halfway during the 14-kilometre trek.

Another pilgrim Pramod Kumar from Kaithal district in Haryana also died at Dhancho due to brain hemorrhage.

Kanwar said the bodies of the deceased are being brought to Bharmour and will be handed over to the families after conducting autopsy.

Earlier, a pilgrim Bihari Lal from Bhaderwah of Jammu and Kashmir had died en-route to the holy lake on Friday August 26 due to illness.

Meanwhile, a youth Rahul Kumar from Patna, has been missing since August 19. He went missing at Kugti village while undertaking the religious yatra before the official schedule. The administration has launched a search operation to find the missing youth but his whereabouts remain unknown, so far. The fortnight-long yatra that began on Janmashtami will end on ‘Radhashtami’, the birth of Krishna’s consort Radha on September 9. HTC