Christian community protests attack on church

A day after miscreants attacked a Catholic church here, nearly 50 km away from downtown Mumbai, the Christian community on Sunday voiced concern and protested against the incident.

On Saturday morning, unidentified miscreants hurled stones inside the St George Catholic Church in New Panvel, following which the glass enclosure of the statue of St George, was damaged. The Khandeshwar police station has registered an FIR. However, no arrests have been made so far. The incident was captured on a CCTV camera but the trio, comprising the biker and two pillion riders, were covering their faces, a police official said.

Dolphy D’souza, the spokesperson of Save our Land, urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, to look into the issue.

Fresh attack

Meanwhile, a cathedral premises and a Catholic school where people had gathered for a religious convention were vandalised allegedly by Hindu activists at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The incident took place on March 20 and the wee hours of March 21. Some members of the Christian community were assaulted by members of Bajrang Dal and Dharam Sena who charged that religious conversion was taking place there.