Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The first batch of Hajj pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir landed at the Srinagar airport on Tuesday after performing Hajj 2023 in Saudi Arabia. Sources said that the first batch of 630 pilgrims landed at the airport in a special flight today morning. The first batch of the pilgrims was received by top civil and police officials at the airport including Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Akshay Labroo, Members of Parliament and Hajj Committee members Farooq Abdullah and Hasnain Masoodi, Director Health Kashmir Mushtaq Ahmad Rather and other senior officials.
Also read: First batch of Hajj pilgrims from Kashmir to leave for Saudi Arabia today
This year, over 12,000 pilgrims including 6,698 men and 5,369 women performed the Hajj from Jammu and Kashmir. These also included 111 women without Mahram. More than 138,000 pilgrims from India performed the holy pilgrimage this year. It can be recalled that the first batch of 315 pilgrims for Hajj 2023 from Kashmir was flagged off from Srinagar International Airport on Jun 7 this year.
The first batch of 315 pilgrims took off at the Srinagar airport for Jeddah in a special flight in the afternoon. As many pilgrims were flagged off from the airport in the evening the same day. The last batch of pilgrims had left for Hajj on Jun 21 while the last batch of the pilgrims will arrive in Srinagar on 2 Aug.
Elaborate security arrangements were made for the departure of the pilgrims at the Srinagar airport. Additional security personnel were deployed along the airport road besides the Haj House for the security of the pilgrims.
