Three arrested for church vandalism in Assam, police say clash between two local groups

Three men were arrested for allegedly vandalising a church in Assam’s Kamrup Rural district, with preliminary investigations indicating that the incident stemmed from a clash between two groups belonging to the same tribe and religious community, police said on Saturday.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) for Kamrup Rural, Subhashis Barua, said the police were informed of the vandalism in the Borthuli Garopara area under Chhaygaon police station late on Thursday night.

He said police detained a few persons at the spot and subsequently arrested three of them on Friday — Mathamar Marak (58), Limbarth Sangma (62) and Susendra Marak, all residents of Borghuli in Chhaygaon.

Following initial investigations, police registered a case at Chhaygaon police station under sections 329 (criminal trespass and house-trespass), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), 298 (damaging a place of worship with the intention of insulting a religion), 324 (mischief causing damage to property), 303(2) (theft) and 3(5) (acts committed by several persons with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he said.

“All of them are Christians and belong to the same tribe as well. Both groups are from Assam and not from any neighbouring state, so it was neither a cross border issue, nor a religious or linguistic matter,” Barua said.

However, police invoked Section 196, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds including religion, caste or community, and acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.

The incident triggered tension in the area as initial reports had linked the vandalism to the longstanding boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya. Areas such as Ukiam, Borthuli, Talimara and Dighalbil in South Kamrup have witnessed tensions over the Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute in recent years.

However, police ruled out the possibility of cross-border attacks and said the situation was brought under control by Friday afternoon.