3 arrested for setting ablaze two churches in MP: Police

The Madhya Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested three people for allegedly vandalising and setting on fire two churches in Narmadpuram district, officials familiar with the matter said

Published on: Feb 14, 2023, 23:44:38 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Bhopal

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The Madhya Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested three people for allegedly vandalising and setting on fire two churches in Narmadpuram district, officials familiar with the matter said.

3 arrested for setting ablaze two churches in MP: Police

One church was set on fire in the state’s Itarsi town on January 9 and another in Sukhtawa Kesla village on February 12, triggering tension in the areas. The Christian community comprises 0.36% of the population in the two areas.

“The two incidents took place along similar lines and created tension in the region. Three teams were formed to nab the accused,” Narmadapuram superintendent of police (SP) Gurkaran Singh said.

Police said while they were yet to establish the motive behind the vandalisation of the church in Itarsi, the accused – Avneesh Pandey (24), Shiv Kumar (23), and Akash Tiwari (24) – planned to set the Sukhtawa Kesla church afire to “avenge” the burning of pages of epic Ramcharitmanas in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district.

On January 29, members of the Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha group allegedly burnt pages of the epic in Vrindavan. The police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against 10 people, including Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who had criticised some excerpts of the epic for allegedly being “discriminatory towards Dalits and women”. The Uttar Pradesh Police later invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against two of the accused.

“During interrogation, the accused claimed that they wanted to do something for their religion. Pandey and Tiwari worked together in Lucknow and they wanted to take revenge for the burning of Ramcharitmanas. Tiwari sent pictures of mazars and churches in Bhopal and Naramdapuram to Pandey and Kumar to set them on fire. He also paid each of them ₹10,000,” the SP said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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