Church ‘vandalised’ in Upper Assam; 2 held

GUWAHATI: In yet another attack on a place of worship, this time a church in Duliajan under Bhadoi police outpost in Upper Assam, has been “vandalized” with two persons suspected to be involved in the incident arrested by police.
Police sources said the statue of Mother Mary was “displaced” while that of Lord Jesus was “partially damaged” apart from other items at St Thomas Catholic Church in No 3 Chapatoli village.
Motilal Rai, 45, and Sanjay Das, 55, were arrested on the basis of information by people who had seen the duo going inside the church on Friday night.
“The duo who are residents of Chapatoli are engaged in petty business. They were arrested on Saturday and are being interrogated now. We are yet to know the actual cause of the vandalism but going by the open almirahs inside the church, an attempt to steal items also cannot be confirmed,” Cheniram Pagog, the officer in-charge of Bhadoi police outpost, told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
Chapatoli village is located in Upper Assam’s tea belt, which houses a sizeable population from the tea community, who are mostly Christians.
According to the police officer, this was the first incident of its kind in the area. “There has been no incident of any communal violence or vandalism as such in the area till date,” Pagog said.
It may be mentioned that there has been a series of incidents of miscreants looting items from temples in Assam, including the Ugratara Temple in Guwahati, of late.
In October this year, a temporary church located inside a residential complex, was “vandalised” at Raidongoni village under Jengraimukh in Upper Assam river island of Majuli.