Charumoodu (Alappuzha): Three people have been arrested for the attack on the St. Gregorious Orthodox Church located at Charumoodu in Alappuzha district on Saturday night. The church was vandalised and the priest and his family were threatened by a gang allegedly over an issue related to the purchase of land for building a cemetery.

The police have arrested local residents Arun Kumar, Sanil Raj and Sunu in connection with the incident. All the three are history-sheeters and Sanil Raj is wanted in a murder case and has multiple attempt-to-murder cases against him. Arun is also an accused in several cases. Both Arun and Sunu are RSS supporters, the police said.

The attack took place at 1.30 am on Sunday when the vicar, Father M K Varghese Cor Episcopa, reached the church along with his family for the midnight mass as part of the Easter Vigil.

The assailants, then barged into the compound breaking open the fence and abused the priest. They retreated when the devotees came rushing to the rescue of the vicar, but later unleashed terror breaking window panes and kicking open doors of a building on the church premises.

Amid the commotion, a large police team led by district police chief S Surendran reached the spot.

The assailants tried to flee when the cops arrived but one of them was caught. Two mobile phones and two bikes were also seized from the spot.

The police arrested the other two later. Arun Kumar stays near the church.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that a plot was brought for the purpose of setting up a cemetery and Arun had led a signature campaign against this, the police said. We are also enquiring if this was the only reason behind the attack, said Chengannur deputy superintendent of police R Binu.

Arun was the second accused in a case where a DYFI worker was assaulted in 2008. Six RSS workers were arrested then.

Sunu was accused in an attack on the church during a funeral procession and inciting communal disharmony through speeches.

Ministers G Sudhakaran and Dr T M Thomas Isaac, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, former CM Oommen Chandy, BJP district president K Soman, and Chengannur bypoll candidates D Vijayakumar, Saji Cherian and P S Sreedharan Pillai visited the church.

Read more national news