Two held for Vikaspuri church incident, Church not convinced

Source: Mattters India.New Delhi: Delhi Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested two persons for allegedly vandalizing a church in West Delhi’s Vikaspuri area.

“We have arrested two persons in the case,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (South-West), Tejinder Luthra.

However Church people say they are not convinced about the police claim.

In the incident which took place on Wednesday at around 4:19 am two unidentified persons vandalized ‘Our Lady of Graces Church’ with their act having been caught on CCTV camera installed on the premises.

Vikaspuri police registered a case in the matter against two unidentified men for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

The attack, the fourth such incident, came 45 days after a mysterious early morning fire damaged St Sebastian’s Church in Dilshad Garden.

That was followed by an incident on January 3 when a Christmas crib set up at ‘Church of Resurrection’ in outer Delhi’s Rohini area was found burnt to ashes.

Also, last month, some unidentified people threw stones at ‘Our Lady of Fatima Forane Church’ at Jasola in south Delhi and broke windowpanes during evening Mass.

The attacks have prompted allegations of foul play by Christian groups with church authorities describing these as “targeted arson.”

Father Mathew Koyickal, chancellor of the archdiocese of Delhi, said police told them that the miscreants were under influence of liquor and indulged in vandalism as part of a bet.

“We cannot believe their version. There seems to be an apparent attempt to dismiss the incident as trivial. However, we see a pattern in these incidents,” the priest told Matters India.