Police arrest four over church attack

Mob storms Protestant church, Hindu hard-liners suspected.

Tamil Nadu:  Police in southern India have arrested four people in connection with an attack on a Protestant church in Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu state.

The church, belonging to the Protestant Church of South India, was allegedly vandalized by a mob on March 12.

"The attackers broke the main door of the church, damaged the furniture, altar and the stained glass," Prince Calvin, general secretary of the church's Coimbatore diocese, told ucanews.com.

They also warned Christians gathered in the church for a prayer service of "dire consequences if they continued worshipping there," he said.

Police are looking for five other suspects who were part of the mob allegedly belonging to a hard-line Hindu group.

Calvin said the attackers claimed the church was built on illegally acquired land.

The London Mission Society purchased the land in 1926 and built a small church. Hindu groups have been voicing opposition ever since a bigger church was dedicated on the same plot of land last week, he said.

The state High Court has since ordered district police to provide protection to Christians while completing the construction of the church.

Source: UCAN