Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday voiced regret over the non-issuance of visas by India to Pakistani pilgrims for the Urs (anniversary) of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi from January 1-8.

The visit was to take place under the provisions of the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines and is a regular, annual feature, said the Foreign Office in a statement.

It said the non-issuance of visas is "unfortunate and runs counter to the letter and spirit of the 1974 Protocol and objective of people-to-people contacts". 

The Foreign Office also said that earlier this year, "despite Pakistan's offer to send a special train, Indian delays resulted in Sikh pilgrims from India being unable to participate in the Martyrdom Anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh".

The development comes amid a war of words between New Delhi and Islamabad over the circumstances of the meeting between alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family in Islamabad.

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Ranchi (PTI): A 60-year-old security guard of a temple in Ranchi was bludgeoned to death with a stone during a robbery attempt, police said on Saturday.

The incident happened late on Thursday at the Jagannath Temple in the Dhurwa Smart City area, they said.

"Three persons were arrested on Friday for killing the security guard. They confessed to the crime and told police that the victim had identified them. Therefore, in fear of being caught, they killed him by attacking him with a stone on his head," SSP Rakesh Ranjan said.

"Thereafter, they took money from the donation box and fled the scene. Two of them have criminal antecedents," he added.

Ranjan said the investigators recovered Rs 3 lakh in cash that had been robbed, the stone with blood-stained marks, and the iron rod used to break open the lock of the donation box kept there.

An FIR in this regard was lodged at the Dhurwa police station, he said, adding that the accused were sent to judicial custody by a court.