JAMMU: Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board (SASB) and Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police have been investigating in what could be a major ticket scam used to cheat pilgrims of the holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath Ji as use of letter heads of Union Civil Aviation Ministry and a Lok Sabha member of the BJP by a private Airlines has also surfaced.
As against Rs 5500 (both ways) rate of the helicopter tickets from Pahalgam to Panchtarni and back, a group of 47 people from Hyderabad, were charged Rs 8500 per person but still they were given just 18 tickets instead of agreed 47 and that too from Baltal route, where the fair per person is just Rs 3200, using the letter pads of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India and BJP Lok Sabha member from Robertsgunj, Uttar Pradesh, Chote Lal, by an Airlines, which was not authorized to deal with the yatra tickets.
Mystery shrouded the use of letter heads of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and BJP Member Parliament by a private airlines company to get 18 priority tickets from Shri Amarnath Shrine Board notwithstanding the fact that the company, Go Choppers Private Limited, had charged Rs 8500 per person from the group of 47 people from Hyderabad for arranging tickets for them on Pahalgam route, well in advance.
A copy of the letterhead of CM Sharma, Additional Private Secretary to Minister of Civil Aviation, which is in possession of the Excelsior, dated June 20, 2018, sought 10 priority tickets for Mahender Kumar and family members from Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board.
Similarly, the copy of the letter head of BJP MP from Robertsgunj, Chote Lal was also dated June 20 and sought eight priority tickets for Kamal Kumar for July 5.
The letter head of Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation has been signed by CM Sharma, Additional Private Secretary to Minister of Civil Aviation while that of Chote Lal was signed by Brijesh Singh, Private Secretary.
Authenticity of the letter heads is yet to be ascertained, official sources said.
Excelsior tried to approach CM Sharma for his comments and genuineness of the letterhead but an attendant at his office said he had left and will be available only on Monday. Chote Lal too didn’t respond to the calls. The numbers of Go Choppers on its website also went unattended.
