Church attack: Club manager deposes before Commission

 Kishore Kumar, manager of Sridevi Recreation Club located near the Milagrice Church in Mangalore’s Bunder area, contended that neither the police nor any Bajrang Dal activists committed any atrocity against Christians, when the latter staged a protest mid-September.

During the cross-examination by advocate B Ibrahim, who is representing the Christian community, Kumar denied that he was instigated by the police to file an affidavit. “It’s not true that police assistance is absolutely necessary for the club’s smooth functioning. Nobody asked me to file an affidavit. I filed it myself so that no injustice is meted out to police,” he said.

Claiming that some persons threw stones from inside the church, Kumar said: “Prohibitory orders were in force that day. Yet Christians staged a protest. I did not see anybody throwing stones at the church from outside,” Kumar argued.

While stating that he and his friends were witness to stone-throwing and lathi charge by the police, Kumar maintained that police did not gatecrash into the church. “They acted only when the situation went out of control,” he said.

Kumar also denied that he was a member of the Bajrang Dal. Advocate for the State Government and the police also cross-examined him. Five other persons summoned by the Commission did not depose before it. The Commission, set up on September 19, 2008, had submitted an interim report in the first week of February.