Panaji: South Goa police on Wednesday booked a case against unknown persons after a cross near the St. Cajetan chapel at Raia, in South Goa, was found desecrated.
Superintendent of Police (South Goa) Arvind Gawas told The Hindu that an offence has been registered under Section 295 (defiling place of worship) of the Indian Penal Code.
“We have registered an offence on the basis of a complaint filed by local villagers,” Mr. Gawas said.
He said passers by saw the cross, which was fixed on four base-stones, broken and fallen from its perch, after which they informed the police.
Preliminary police investigation ruled out foul play as Mr. Gawas said that the cross was fixed on a weak base of four stones and looked like it could have bent following a slight push. But a police complaint has been registered.
The chapel authorities have started reinstallation work immediately, he said.
Last year, Goa Police had claimed to have cracked a series of desecrations with the arrest of a taxi driver Francis Pereira who has been accused of allegedly defiling over 60 crosses and two Hindu idols across Goa.
He was in police custody for nearly six months since his arrest in July 2017, and is at present out on bail.
