TURA: Unidentified miscreants assaulted two church elders of St. Dominic Savio Church at Garobadha, 30 kms from here, and decamped with Rs 1.25 lakh, valuables and two cell phones, early on Wednesday.
The attack on the church fits into the general pattern witnessed in raids on three other churches in the Garo Hills in the past 18 days — break-in, assault and robbery in the wee hours.
Taking advantage of the load shedding from midnight to 3 am, as many as twenty criminals with their faces covered forced their way inside the church at around 1.15 am.
The gang first entered the mission building and broke open the gate to enter the office of the parish priest. The criminals ransacked the office by breaking locks and the steel almirahs looking for cash and other valuables. They were able to rob approximately Rs 1,25,000 and other valuables as well as two mobile phones belonging to a priest and a preacher.
They then went to the living quarters of the priests and attacked assistant parish priest Rev. Fr Thomas John and preacher Daniel M Sangma.
After tying their hands and gagging their mouths, the miscreants, who reportedly spoke in broken Garo language, assaulted Fr Thomas John hitting him with iron rods on his right leg and left hand.
While the gang was targeting the two church elders, another assistant parish priest, Rev Fr John Mathias M Marak, was alerted about the ongoing robbery and he quickly raised an alarm and began mobilising other inmates of the parish forcing the gang to flee from the scene.
Wednesday’s attack on the church is the fourth such incident in the past 18 days with the miscreants employing similar modus operandi. (See box)
In the light of the string of attacks on churches, police have formed a special team headed by an additional superintendent of police to nab the culprits.
“The modus operandi is the same and we have got some clues and two suspects have already been picked up for investigation,” informed West Garo Hills district police chief MGR Kumar while speaking to The Shillong Times.
He also informed that an inter-district cooperation and intelligence- sharing mechanism has been put in place under the Western Range DIG to nab the groups behind the attacks. Besides, the district administration is moving the MeECL to shift the load-shedding timing to the day.
Bishop plea for intensified night patrolling
The Bishop of Tura, Rt. Rev. Andrew R Marak, has condemned the attacks on churches in the Garo Hills and has requested the Meghalaya home minister and the police department to intensify night patrolling and take all necessary measures to protect the life and property of the people and the churches.
“Four incidents of robbery have been reported at various churches in Garo Hills in a span of 20 days this month, the latest robbery being at St. Dominic Savio Church in Garobadha. The nature of the incidents shows that the same gang is going around and doing the robberies and the incidents are happening during the power cut time,” a concerned Catholic Church mentioned in a statement on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the priests have also pointed out that in all four cases, the incidents have taken place shortly after the conclusion of the annual Sobha or religious gathering in their respective areas. In these gatherings, several thousand faithful congregate for a week of religious events.
“The style and timing of the incidents were very similar at all four places. The attack at Loyola Parish took place after the conclusion of the Sobha in the town. Similarly, the incidents at Chokpot and Dalu took place after the local religious events had concluded,” informed a father from the Bishop’s house in Tura.
It is strongly believed that the gangs may have been eyeing the religious donations and contributions normally made by believers to the church during such religious events and a well connected network of criminals may have planned the midnight heists at the four parishes.
ON THE PROWLON THE PROWLJanuary 13: Attack on the Mater Dei (Latin for Mother of God) Loyola Parish at Dawagre in Williamnagar. Around a dozen miscreants entered the parish and left assistant parish priest Rev Fr Scaria gagged and tied the whole night after failing to find any money.January 21: Burglary at Sacred Heart Church Parish in the border town of Dalu, West Garo Hills. Criminals take advantage of post-midnight load shedding to enter the church compound by breaking open the iron grill and the gates. Decamp with Rs five lakh of church money.January 26: St. Thomas Church in Chokpot, South Garo Hills. Criminals ransack the parish office but fail to take away any money.