Hyderabad: A group of people allegedly vandalised a church during its inauguration in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district and attacked priests and devotees, injuring several of them, police said.
The incident took place at Narayantala, under the Basanti police station area, on Saturday, when Bishop Subrata Chakraborty, several priests and members of the congregation were present for the inauguration ceremony.
"We have received a complaint that 30-35 people entered the church premises and assaulted those present. Women were also allegedly attacked and asked to remove their traditional 'shakha' (white bangles) before being forced out of the premises," a police officer said.
The attackers allegedly vandalised a cross, assaulted the priests and devotees, and smashed the mobile phones of those trying to record the incident, the officer said. According to members of the congregation, the group also threatened to prevent religious activities on the premises.
The Bangiya Christiya Pariseba (BCP), a Christian organisation, filed a complaint at the Basanti police station and condemned the incident, calling it an attempt to intimidate the minority community.
Its founder, state secretary and working president, Herod Mullick, described the incident as unprecedented, saying that several priests had been assaulted "during an inauguration ceremony with the bishop present".
Organised groups take the law into their own hands to target peaceful minorities, Mullick further said. He alleged that such groups had faced no meaningful deterrence from the administration or the government.
However, Basanti police station officer-in-charge Prabir Ghosh said the preliminary investigation suggested that the dispute had erupted between two churches located less than 100 metres apart in the same locality. He also said a complaint had previously been lodged against the newly inaugurated church.
Bishop Chakraborty, in comments to the media, alleged that members of the local Hindu Jagran Manch, backed by members of nearby Baptist churches, entered the premises chanting "Jai Shri Ram". He claimed that they ordered Hindu women to leave and that some Hindu families helped protect the congregation. Police have not confirmed these allegations.
Police have begun an investigation. No arrests had been announced by Monday morning (November 2), and the number of injured had not been officially confirmed.
A couple of weeks earlier, three Christian families in Paschim Medinipur district had complained to police that they were threatened and assaulted by a group of people to force them to renounce their faith.
(With inputs from media organisations)