The Mumbai Police on Sunday arrested 22-year-old Dawood Ibrahim Mohammed Haroon Qureshi from Navi Mumbai for allegedly vandalising 18 crosses at the cemetery attached to St. Michael’s Church.
Senior Inspector Sudhakar Baburao Shirsath said based on technical evidence, Mr. Qureshi was picked up from Navi Mumbai and they are questioning him. “As of now, he didn’t reveal the reason for his act,” he said.
Earlier, the Mumbai Police filed a case against unidentified persons for allegedly vandalising several crosses at the cemetery.
The Mahim Police, who registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC, analysed the video footage of surveillance cameras in and around the church and found a person entering the graveyard.
The trespasser was seen damaging the crosses. According to the police, the person in the video footage was identified and teams were formed to arrest the miscreant.
A forensic team collected fingerprints and other evidence from the premises.
“We should be able to nab him by Tuesday. No arrest has been made so far,” the police said,
ing that the forensic team collected the fingerprint and other evidence from the premises.Saturday’s incident has caused deep distress and much consternation among the Catholic community.Condemning the incident, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto demanded Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Mumbai police to take immediate cognisance of the issue.
“This act seems like a deliberate attempt to pressurise and disturb the peace-loving Catholic community in Mumbai,” he said.
On Saturday In the early hours of Saturday, an unidentified person had entered the cemetery and vandalised 18 crosses at the graveyard. Pictures of the vandalised crosses went viral on social media. Based on the complaint lodged by the church, the police registered a case and launched a probe into the issue. A similar incident of vandalism at a church was reported from Narayanpur district in Chhattisgarh recently.
