Delhi: 'Drunk men vandalised church on a dare'

The Delhi police have arrested three men for allegedly vandalising a church in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri on Thursday.

Initial investigation revealed that while they were in an inebriated condition at the time of the incident and vandalised the church on a dare.

The three accused Narender Singh, Ravinder Pal Singh Gill and Harpreet Singh Dhanjal had vandalised the window pane and a portion of the Church of Our Lady of Graces early on Wednesday morning.

Ruling out any political agenda behind the vandalism, senior police officials said that the accused had no affiliation to any political party or religious group. “The three attacked the church based on a dare,” said a senior police officer.

“Several teams were deployed to nab the accused. More than 100 people in the adjoining areas were questioned within 24 hours, which finally led to the arrest,” said Pushpendra Kumar, DCP (West).

The police recovered the scooter, motor bike and clothes worn by the accused.

Sources in the department told HT that the trio revealed they had no intention of hurting anyone’s religious sentiments and nor was the attack a religious vendetta against a specific community.

The CCTV footage of the incident, a copy of which is with HT, shows an unknown man on a scooter halting in front of the church and punching a window pane. Interestingly, the man first bowed down, folded his hands in front of the mother Mary’s statue before punching on the window. While the footage shows the youth fleeing the spot almost immediately, he returns with an accomplice seconds later.

The Delhi Archbishop Anil JT Couto appreciated the quick response of the police. “I am glad that the police have nabbed the culprits and are investigating into the motive behind the act. I hope the police would soon find the culprits involved in other attacks on Churches in Delhi. We also hope and pray such incidents do not occur again.”

Initial investigation revealed that while they were in an inebriated condition at the time of the incident and vandalised the church on a dare.

The three accused Narender Singh, Ravinder Pal Singh Gill and Harpreet Singh Dhanjal had vandalised the window pane and a portion of the Church of Our Lady of Graces early on Wednesday morning.

Ruling out any political agenda behind the vandalism, senior police officials said that the accused had no affiliation to any political party or religious group. “The three attacked the church based on a dare,” said a senior police officer.

“Several teams were deployed to nab the accused. More than 100 people in the adjoining areas were questioned within 24 hours, which finally led to the arrest,” said Pushpendra Kumar, DCP (West).

The police recovered the scooter, motor bike and clothes worn by the accused.

Sources in the department told HT that the trio revealed they had no intention of hurting anyone’s religious sentiments and nor was the attack a religious vendetta against a specific community.

The CCTV footage of the incident, a copy of which is with HT, shows an unknown man on a scooter halting in front of the church and punching a window pane. Interestingly, the man first bowed down, folded his hands in front of the mother Mary’s statue before punching on the window. While the footage shows the youth fleeing the spot almost immediately, he returns with an accomplice seconds later.

The Delhi Archbishop Anil JT Couto appreciated the quick response of the police. “I am glad that the police have nabbed the culprits and are investigating into the motive behind the act. I hope the police would soon find the culprits involved in other attacks on Churches in Delhi. We also hope and pray such incidents do not occur again.”

First Published: Jan 16, 2015 08:10 IST