The person responsible for the desecration of the St. Mary’s Church in Agra is a rickshaw-puller, say police.
According to the police, the accused Haider vandalised the church after the woman he loved apparently spurned him. Haider was arrested on Friday. The attack on the church on April 16 had evoked protests and widespread condemnation.
The arrest comes in the backdrop of a series of attacks on churches which was sought to be given political colour. In a recent interview to The Hindu , Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said these attacks were pure law and order issues at the domestic level which had tarnished the image of India abroad. The case was worked out by the Agra police within 24 hours of a massive protest dharna staged by the Christians in the State capital against the attacks on churches and institutions, although unconfirmed reports said that he had been detained by the police on Thursday itself. At the dharna, the Christian religious leaders had demanded the immediate arrest of the person responsible for the Agra church attack. The incident occurred in the night of April 15/16 and for over a week, the police were groping in the dark.
A police spokesman said here that about four months back Haiderfell in love with a girl, who worked as a domestic servant. They used to meet daily in the evening near the St. Mary’s Church at Pratapura crossing in Agra, the police spokesman said.
Haider revealed that every Saturday, after returning from their outing, the girl used to light a candle at the St. Mary’s Church, the police said. “As he could not meet the girl for 10 to 15 days, in a fit of anger Haider consumed liquor and cannabis and on the night of April 15/16, jumped into the compound of church and vandalised it,” the police spokesman said.
“Later, Haider, who started feeling guilty, confessed to his friends and we got wind of it,” the police said. The priests and leaders of the Christian community, however, dismissed the police claim are not buying the police theory. United Christian Forum’s Andrew Prakash demanded that the police prove their claims.
The police team which nabbed the rickshaw-puller was rewarded Rs.15,000 by the IG Zone of Agra and Rs. 5,000 by Agra SSP.
(With additional reporting by Mohammad Ali)
Christian leaders reject police claim
