Tarn Taran (TIP)- Four unidentified men allegedly broke into a church and desecrated statues of Jesus Christ and Mary in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, police said on Wednesday,  August 31, adding that chief minister Bhagwant Mann has ordered a probe into the “highly condemnable” incident.

The incident comes two days after a group of nihangs and their supporters disrupted an event organised by Christian missionaries at Daduana village in the border district of Amritsar.

According to the Tarn Taran police, four armed men barged into the Catholic Church at Thakkarpura village near Patti town late on Tuesday night. The intruders pointed a pistol at the security guard’s head and tied his hands in the incident that took place around 12.30 am and was caught on CCTV cameras installed at the church. They desecrated the statues of Jesus Christ and Mary, located at the front side of the church, with an axe and escaped with the heads, according to a senior police officer from Sadar police station, Patti, where a case has been registered based on the complaint from the church authority. “The CCTV footage showed two of the masked men vandalising the idols,” the officer said, requesting anonymity. “They also set ablaze a car parked on the church premises while fleeing.”

Father Thomas P, the priest of the church, told the police that the vandalisers remained inside the church campus for around 25 minutes. Soon after the incident, a police team led by Tarn Taran’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ranjit Singh Dhillon reached the spot. A large number of police personnel were deployed in the area.

“It is a conspiracy by some mischievous elements who wanted to disturb the peace in the state,” the SSP told reporters. “We have taken stock of the situation and are investigating the matter. We will soon catch those behind this incident.” A case has been registered under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 452 (house trespass), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC.

Source: HT