Two city churches robbed of cash, valuables this week
Father Nigel Barrett, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay confirmed that two robberies were reported.
Mumbai: Two incidents of robberies were reported in two churches in Mumbai this week. St Anne’s Church at Nesbit Road in Mazgaon was robbed of cash and offerings on August 9, while another theft was reported at St Joseph’s Church in Vikhroli on August 7. So far, the police has not filed any FIRs on the incident.
Father Nigel Barrett, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay confirmed that two robberies were reported. “In the case of Vikhroli church, CCTV footage shows an individual involved in the incident. So far, robbers of the Mazgaon church have not been nabbed. They were two isolated incidents but they took place around more or less the same time.”
Barret also said that the donations made for the poor were stolen. “The cheques were left intact but the cash was taken from the Mazgaon church,” he said, adding that the police is investigating both cases.
“They have made recommendations for security. They are pursuing the matter,” he said.
A parishioner from St Joseph Church in Vikhroli said that the burglary was planned. “A man entered the church in the afternoon under the pretext of seeing the communion. He was allowed by the watchman because he gave a fake reference. He frantically kept going up and down the premises, which was captured on CCTV,” he said.
Advocate Godfrey Pimenta from the Bombay East Indian Association has written to chief minister Eknath Shinde raising concern over the spate of robberies in churches. “We demand a thorough probe into this break-in and theft of valuables in addition to the damage caused to the church properties. This amounts to desecration of the place of worship and calls for stringent action,” Pimenta wrote in his letter to the CM.