Posted on Saturday, December 19, 2009 - 10:11 pm:

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BIDAR: The Bidar district police Thursday claimed to have solved the case of an attack on a church in Humnabad town in Bidar district on November 17 with the arrest of a former pastor of the church and three hired goons who allegedly attacked the church.

Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar in a press statement said here that the main accused, Vasant, who was the pastor of the Humnabad church till June this year before his transfer to a church at Basantpur in Chincholi taluk in Gulbarga district had conspired to damage the church with the hope that the church authorities would cancel his transfer and keep him in Humnabad.

Mr. Kumar said the investigation revealed that the accused had taken the help of B. Sunil, S. Mallikarjun Swamy and S. Manjunath, all belonging to Humnabad town, to damage the church with a promise of paying them Rs. 10,000. According to Mr. Kumar, the main accused had already paid Rs. 1,000 as advance to the trio for carrying out the attack.

The attack, which had embarrassed the district administration and the police, had caused quite a stir among the Christians who wanted the Government to take immediate action against those responsible for the attack. Furniture, electrical fittings in the main prayer hall and the cross on the dome of the church were damaged. The Opposition parties such as the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) had also joined the Christians in demanding action against those responsible for the attack.

Mr. Kumar said that a special team of police officers, headed by Additional Superintendent of Police Thyagarajan and Circle Inspectors M.H. Satish, working in Humnabad police station and James Menenzis working in Raichur, was formed to solve the case. The team questioned several persons and finally the pastor. The accused revealed the names of the three people he had hired to attack the church.

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