Amarnath Yatra hampered due to separatist-called shutdown
Jammu, July 8 : Amarnath pilgrims were not allowed to move towards the cave shrine from Jammu on Sunday due to a separatist-called protest shutdown in the Kashmir Valley, police said.
The protest shutdown was called to mark the second death anniversary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani who was killed along with his two associates by the security forces on this day in 2014 in Anantnag's district's Kokarnag area.
"No yatri movement was allowed today from Jammu's Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas towards the Valley," the police said.
Officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said 10,107 pilgrims per formed the pilgrimage on Saturday as Yatris were allowed to move towards the shrine from both Baltal and the Pahalgam base camps.
Since it started on June 28, 83,130 pilgrims have performed the Yatra so far this year.
The pilgrimage will end on August 26 coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival.
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Mumbai family deaths: FDA finds no watermelon vendor in area to check for affected stock
Mumbai (PTI): The Food and Drug Administration team probing the cause of death of four members of a family in south Mumbai's JJ Marg area have not been able to zero in on any watermelon vendor in the vicinity to check if the fruit had a role to play in the ill-fated incident, an official said on Thursday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
"The FDA team visited the house of Dokadia and collected samples of chicken pulao and watermelon pieces. After two days, the leftover chicken pulao had developed fungus growth. The team also tried to locate watermelon vendors to check for any affected lots," he said.
But no vendors were found in the area for the past two days, preventing the FDA team from getting samples, the official added.
The FDA has requested the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to share the report on the food samples collected by them, he added.
A senior Mumbai police official said the force is waiting for FSL reports in the case, adding that questions on presence of sedatives etc in the fruit could be answered only then.
The statements of the kin of the deceased are being recorded to ascertain if it is a case of mass suicide, and it is being checked if the Dokadia family were in debt or distressed over some issue, the police official said.
