A good number of police force has been deployed near the church at village Tarri under Gurur block where some hoodlums manhandled and locked six Christian priests in a room and damaged the property on Sunday.
The timely interference of the police prevented something horrible from happening but the fact remains that no arrest has been made so far. Owing allegiance to the Jagran Manch, they manhandled five priests and threatened them of dire consequences if they continued their prayer meetings in the village Church.
Senior Superintendent of Police Ashok Juneja has informed that the Gurur police have registered a case and investigation is on. The situation is under control and further action will be taken after initial inquiry", said he.
The Collector ICP Keshari has said they have sorted out the dispute and hoped that the villagers would follow peaceful means. The members of the Church have stated that "Parivartan Rally", the kick-starter election campaigning of Bharatiya Janata Party, which passed through the village on Saturday, had raised the issue of conversion.
"A good number of people belonging to Jagran Manch and BJP had raised anti-Christianity slogans demanding our expulsion from the village", a priest has said adding that conversion was only a myth for the villagers because they presume it from a distance and don't come here to see the reality.
The members of some Churches in Dhamtari and rural parts of Durg district have reportedly convened an internal meeting to discuss the situation. "But we are expecting more such incident in the coming months", a Church member has said.
Domanlal, one of the complainants, has stated that the influential villagers had been threatening him and others from attending the prayer in Church.
"On Sunday, about 50 people stopped me on my way to Church asking to return back. They slapped me when I refused to listen them and dragged me towards the Church. More than one hundred people joined the hoodlums immediately. They attacked the Church, pulled down the cross and damaged the furniture. They were also carrying a statue of some deity", he has reported the police, further informing that the lower class people live in the peripheral areas of the village and has been subjected to atrocity on one pretext or another.