Report on 'man-made lingam' due

The probe commission was appointed after allegations surfaced that snow was piled on the natural lingam.

The one-man judicial commission inquiring into the alleged installation of a 'man-made ice

HT Image

lingam'

at the Amarnath cave shrine is likely to submit its report within a week.

"The report is at the compiling stage and will be submitted within a week," Justice (retd) KK Gupta, a former judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court who was appointed by Governor Lt Gen (retd) SK Sinha on June 29 to probe the matter, said.

Justice Gupta dismissed as 'baseless and unfounded' media reports suggesting that the report has already been submitted.

The probe commission was appointed after allegations surfaced that snow was piled in place of the naturally formed ice lingam inside the shrine as the original lingam did not form this year.

Sinha, who is also chairman of the Amarnath Shrine Board, ordered the inquiry after consulting Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Each year, thousands of pilgrims across the country make the gruelling trek to the 3,880-metre shrine in south Kashmir's Lidder valley to get a glimpse of the lingam that is formed by water dipping from stalactites on the cave's roof.