Three elderly women from Odisha, who had gone on a pilgrimage to Tirupati of Andhra Pradesh, went missing after darshan of Lord Venketswara.
The missing women were identified as Basanti Malla from Bharatpur in Kendrapada, Gitanjali Rout from Nankera village under Khordha’s Jayadev panchayat, and Rani Dei from Khordha’s Chilika block.
The Odisha Tourism Department had taken senior citizens from several districts of the State on a pilgrimage to Tirupati on February 7.
The local police and Odisha Tourism officials have been searching for the missing women at Tirupati but are yet to trace their whereabouts.
The other pilgrims have returned from Tirupati to Odisha
Basanti Malla’s family left Kendrapara for Tirupati on Tuesday to search for her.
Kendrapada Tourism Officer Himalay Tripathi said, “She had gone to Tirupati under the Senior Citizen Pilgrimage Scheme of the government. She was not alone. Around 12 more people from her village have also gone on the pilgrimage.”
“She went missing during the darshan at Venkateshwara temple in Tirupati. We are continuing the search operation. Two out of six escort officers have stayed at Tirupati to find them,” Tripathi said.