Express News Service By

COIMBATORE: Following an act of vandalism perpetrated by members of some Hindu outfits at a church in Kalapatti, the Kovilapalayam police arrested five persons on Sunday night.

Of the arrested persons, P Sampath (43) is the formal zonal secretary of the BJP. The other four were identified as R Kutty (34), S Sakthivel (29), N Vignesh (25) and K Devaraj (60). The four men are said to belong to a fringe Hindu outfit.

Based on a complaint by the person in charge of the church, a case was registered under Sections 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act.

The Hindu outfit members were against the church functioning as a temple was also located nearby.

The church has been in existence since 1948 and was recently renovated and expanded, though the Hindu outfit men approached the court seeking a stay order. The High Court had given green light for the church renovation and had directed the district police to give adequate protection.

The church was dedicated on Wednesday.

On Saturday, a group of Hindu outfit activists vandalised the property.

On Sunday, more than 1,000 people from seven churches, led by the Presbyter and Chairman of the CSI Christ Church, petitioned the Collector, seeking protection of the church and the congregation.

CSI Christ Church’s honorary secretary P Dharmaraj, told Express that they sought the Collector’s help to implement the High Court order. He said around 20 families congregated at the church every week and they feared for their safety.

Police said that they were on the lookout for the culprits who had vandalised the church property and were also searching for some serial offenders, who would be booked under Section 107 of the Code for Criminal Procedure, whereby the anti-social elements would be made to sign a bond stating that they would not indulge in any illegal act.