in Saoner, 40 km from Nagpur. The police claimed that two of the arrested persons Ramesh Dubey and Bhagwati Janwar belonged to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) while two others Vikram Game and Arun Chafale were from Bajrang Dal. The Nagpur units of both organisations had denied their hand in the incident. The police had arrested three of the accused Uddhav Choudhary, Vinod Bagde and Umesh Athavankar hours after the incident on Sunday. The police said 20-25 activists from VHP and Bajrang Dal attacked the church during Sunday mass. They were protesting against alleged conversions in the area by the church. The arrested persons have been remanded to police custody till April 24. "How could we know that the church would be attacked all of a sudden?'' said Dileep Gavai, senior inspector of Saoner police station. Records available with the Nagpur city police's special branch indicate that there were around 100 conversions to Christianity at a church at Dattawadi since 2005. There were, however, no such figures available with the district special branch, said C H Wakade, superintendent of police, Nagpur rural. "The attack was meticulously planned. They had come to police station just to complete the formality of submitting a complaint. We did not get any time to react to the complaint,'' said Gavai. Abraham Mathai, vice-chairman, state Minority Commission, said there should have been prompt action by the police after the activists had approached them. "It was duty of the police to ensure that the group did not reach the church,'' said Mathai who will reach Saoner on Tuesday. The Saoner police shot down a plea of the Christian organisations to hold a meeting at Variety Square to protest the incident. "We were disallowed from voicing our protest,'' said Vinod Sonkar, spokesperson, United Christian Congress. City police chief Praveen Dixit said the protesters were welcome to convene a meeting in a hall or any other venue but "it is not possible for us to grant them permission to hold a meeting at a busy junction''. Christian organisations in Mumbai have expressed shock on hearing about the attack. The Catholic Archbishop of Nagpur, V Abraham, who was in Mumbai on Monday, said, "There was peace between all communities in Nagpur for many years. This feeling of amity is being eroded by acts of violence. The attacks display a total disregard for the rule of law.'' "The fact that violence against a place of worship is done in such a brazen manner even as elections are around the corner shows that these communal forces have scant regard for the law,'' said Dolphy D'Souza, president of Mumbai Catholic Sabha.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
VHP, Bajrang Dal men held for church attack
MUMBAI: Nagpur district police on Monday arrested four more persons for their alleged involvement in Sunday's attack on the Douglas Memorial Church
in Saoner, 40 km from Nagpur. The police claimed that two of the arrested persons Ramesh Dubey and Bhagwati Janwar belonged to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) while two others Vikram Game and Arun Chafale were from Bajrang Dal. The Nagpur units of both organisations had denied their hand in the incident. The police had arrested three of the accused Uddhav Choudhary, Vinod Bagde and Umesh Athavankar hours after the incident on Sunday. The police said 20-25 activists from VHP and Bajrang Dal attacked the church during Sunday mass. They were protesting against alleged conversions in the area by the church. The arrested persons have been remanded to police custody till April 24. "How could we know that the church would be attacked all of a sudden?'' said Dileep Gavai, senior inspector of Saoner police station. Records available with the Nagpur city police's special branch indicate that there were around 100 conversions to Christianity at a church at Dattawadi since 2005. There were, however, no such figures available with the district special branch, said C H Wakade, superintendent of police, Nagpur rural. "The attack was meticulously planned. They had come to police station just to complete the formality of submitting a complaint. We did not get any time to react to the complaint,'' said Gavai. Abraham Mathai, vice-chairman, state Minority Commission, said there should have been prompt action by the police after the activists had approached them. "It was duty of the police to ensure that the group did not reach the church,'' said Mathai who will reach Saoner on Tuesday. The Saoner police shot down a plea of the Christian organisations to hold a meeting at Variety Square to protest the incident. "We were disallowed from voicing our protest,'' said Vinod Sonkar, spokesperson, United Christian Congress. City police chief Praveen Dixit said the protesters were welcome to convene a meeting in a hall or any other venue but "it is not possible for us to grant them permission to hold a meeting at a busy junction''. Christian organisations in Mumbai have expressed shock on hearing about the attack. The Catholic Archbishop of Nagpur, V Abraham, who was in Mumbai on Monday, said, "There was peace between all communities in Nagpur for many years. This feeling of amity is being eroded by acts of violence. The attacks display a total disregard for the rule of law.'' "The fact that violence against a place of worship is done in such a brazen manner even as elections are around the corner shows that these communal forces have scant regard for the law,'' said Dolphy D'Souza, president of Mumbai Catholic Sabha.
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