42 devotees from Thanjai stranded in Kasi rescued

TIRUCHY: As many as 42 devotees from Thanjavur stranded in Kasi returned home safely on Friday following the efforts of the district administration.

Sources said that a group of 116 devotees left for Kashi on a pilgrimage from Thanjavur as part of a tour organised by one Anjali Devi from Thanjavur and one Balaji, an agent from Chennai, on October 30. Balaji, who had reportedly collected Rs 10,000 from each devotee, took them to Kashi by train.

After visiting Kashi, Balaji took all the devotees to Varanasi railway station, but suddenly vanished from the spot. The devotees who were struggling there tried to contact both Balaji and Anjali Devi but in vain. Later, a few of them managed to arrange their travel reached Thanjavur. But, 42 persons, who were part of the group, got stranded there.

The devotees who reached home informed the Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver about the plight of the 42 devotees stuck in Kashi. In a swift action, the Collector contacted the people stranded in Varanasi and arranged for their homeward journey.

On Thursday, they reached Chennai and the district administration arranged a special bus from Chennai to bring them back to Thanjavur. All of them returned safely during the early hours on Friday.