Church Vandalised In Chhattisgarh: BJP Leader, 4 Others Arrested

Raipur: Five people were arrested including Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) district head by Chhattisgarh Police on Tuesday in connection with the vandalism of a church in Narayanpur district.

According to reports, locals had vandalised a church in the district over suspicion of carrying out religious conversions.

The police arrested the accused under sections 153 (a) (Promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion), 295 (Injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 147( punishment for rioting), 148 (armed with a deadly weapon) 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

All the accused, identified as Ladhakshya Roopsaye, Ankit Nandi, Atul Netaam and Domend Yadav, have been produced in the magistrate’s court. During the incident, a police officer stationed at the spot to control the mob was also injured.

On December 31, 2022, members of tribal communities carried out protest rallies against the alleged religious conversions, following which clashes took place between the tribal groups and Christian tribals.