NEW DELHI: Police on Thursday arrested the vandals who broke the glass pane of a church in Vikaspuri and found that the three accused were high on alcohol and had betted over who could commit the act. The accused are residents of Tilak Nagar and were returning from a Lohri celebration when they decided to place the bets.

The accused — Narender Singh (33), Ravinder Pal Singh Gill and Harpreet Singh Dhanjal (28) — were caught on CCTV breaking the glass panes of a cabinet installed outside the church. Police said that it was Ravinder who had smashed the glass pane containing a grotto of the Church of Our Lady of Graces in Vikaspuri at 4.18am. He returned with Harpreet and toppled a statue of Mary.

“A special team under the supervision of Omwati Malik, ACP Vikaspuri and SHO Rakesh Kumar Tyagi was formed to arrest the miscreants,” said Tajender Singh Luthra, joint commissioner of police (southwestern range).

Police said that the CCTV camera which recorded the footage was recently installed under a scheme launched by Delhi Police after a home ministry directive for the security of religious institutions. The camera was able to get a clear shot of the two miscreants.

Police questioned more than 100 people in nearby areas like Sant Garh, Tilak Vihar, Shah Pura, Chander Vihar and Nihal Vihar before zeroing in on the men. Their identities were matched with the CCTV footage and then the three men were arrested.

During interrogation, the trio revealed that in order to prove who was most daring among them, they betted to break the glass pane mounted on the outside wall of the church, said a senior police official.

When Ravinder smashed the glass pane, his friends asked him to do it again. He returned and pushed the statue of Mary. They didn’t know about the CCTV camera installed at the gate. Although Narender was not seen in the CCTV footage, he was also present there, said a police official.

