Miscreants vandalised an idol of St. Anthony at the grotto of St. Anthony’s church at Soosaipalya in Chickballapur in Karnataka on Thursday. The incident came to light when some people visited the church in the morning. They informed the priest who called the police and filed a complaint.
This is the 11th incident of attack on churches in the State since September this year, said Kantha Raju, spokesperson for the archdiocese.
The Chickballapur police formed three special teams to track down those responsible.
Superintendent of Police Mithun Kumar G.K. directed the police to intensify patrolling and provide security to other religious places in the district.
Based on the complaint filed by J. Antony Daniel, the parish priest, the Chickballapur Rural police have registered a case against unknown persons. They have been charged under Section 295 (destruction, damage, or defilement of a place of worship or an object held sacred, with intent to insult the religion of a class of persons), 153A (offence of promoting disharmony, enmity or feelings of hatred between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of IPC and also under various sections of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Fr. Daniel, in his complaint, said that the incident came to light around 6.30 a.m. when a few devotees visited the site to pray and noticed the damage. The idol was installed 25 years ago and devotees from Chickballapur, Saraipalya, and even Bengaluru visited to offer prayers. Apart from the 2-ft POP idol of St. Anthony, the said miscreants have also vandalised the idol of Jesus, he said.
The special team have initiated investigations and are gathering details about the incident to identify the miscreants. The police have some clues, a police officer said.
