: Seven persons from Gollapeta in the city were feared missing at the famous pilgrim centre Varanasi on Tuesday. Family members of the pilgrims were anxious about the whereabouts of their kin, as the last phone call they received from the latter was on Monday night. The pilgrim party left for Varanasi on April 29 by train. The matter came to light on Tuesday afternoon, when relatives received a call from D. Lova Raju, 28, one of the eight members of the group. They were shocked to hear that he escaped a murder bid, while all the other members were killed on the spot. He said he sustained injuries and was undergoing treatment in a hospital. Relatives rushed to the Collectorate and brought the issue to the notice of Collector H. Arun Kumar, who spoke to the doctor who treated Lova Raju over phone and learned that Lova Raju sustained severe head injury. He spoke to Varanasi police officials , but could not get information about the whereabouts of the seven pilgrims. The Collector sent the details and photographs of the pilgrims — D. Appala Narasamma, 48, N. Narayanamma, 60, B. Manikyam, 50, N. Lakshmi, 50, G. Mangamma, 55, S. Appa Rao, 80, and S. Perantalu, 70 — to the police.Attempts by the relatives to contact at least one member of the pilgrim party over telephone proved futile.
