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Odisha pastor assault: 9 detained as police probe Dhenkanal mob attack case
The police said the allegations are still being investigated, but denied claims that Naik had been forced to drink water from a drain and eat cow dung.
More than two weeks after a pastor was allegedly assaulted in a village in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, the police on Thursday said they have detained nine people and are questioning them to ascertain their role in the incident.
Dhenkanal superintendent of police Abhinav Sonkar said they learnt about the January 4 incident only after the pastor’s wife filed a complaint. According to the complaint lodged by Vandana Naik on January 13, her husband, pastor Bipin Naik, was assaulted by a mob allegedly led by Bajrang Dal members. She alleged that 15–20 people stormed a house where Naik was conducting a prayer meeting with seven Christian families, assaulted him, smeared vermillion on him, paraded him wearing a garland of shoes and forced him to drink drain water.
Sonkar said the allegations are still being investigated, but denied claims that Naik had been forced to drink water from a drain and eat cow dung. “These allegations are not there in the FIR and we have not found any indication of this,” Sonkar said. “The injured pastor has undergone medical examinations, and witness statements have been recorded. We are examining all evidence and will take strict action only after a proper investigation.”
HT has accessed a photo of Naik being dragged around the village with slippers garlanded around his neck. The pastor’s wife however did not respond to calls seeking the version of events on January 4.
The incident has been widely condemned nationwide, with Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma calling it a “grave violation of the constitutional rights”. Kerala Congress said “is not just another ‘incident,’ it’s the product of hate politics under Modi.”
The attack on minorities comes a week after a 35-year-old Muslim man died after being lynched by a mob in Balasore district who allegedly assaulted him and forced to him to chant Jay Sri Ram. Sk Makandar Mahammad died 3 days after he was assaulted by local Bajrang Dal youths after a pickup van he was travelling in was allegedly intercepted while transporting cattle. So far six persons have been arrested in the case.
This is the third lynching incident in Odisha in recent months linked to cattle-related issues. In December, Sheikh Juyal, a Muslim migrant labourer from Murshidabad in Bengal, was lynched in Sambalpur district by four local youths.
In September last year, Kishore Chamar, a 35-year-old Dalit traditional cow skinner, was beaten to death in Deogarh district over suspicion of killing a cow. Though Kishore maintained he was processing meat from his own dead cow, he was accused of killing it.
In the last 4 years, nearly 300 cases of conflicts between Hindus and Muslims have been reported across the state, most of which started over cattle trafficking or cow slaughter.
