A batch of 839 devotees left for Pakistan on Friday to visit various Sikh shrines there on the occasion of Baisakhi. The group, under the aegis of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), includes both men and women.

The visit comes amidst rising tensions between the two countries in the past nearly two months. The batch was given a send-off at the SGPC office at the Golden Temple complex here on Friday. They later boarded a train from Attari railway station, 30 km from here, to go to Pakistan.