Illegal Arrest by the Police in Orissa – Unrest continues in the village!

Orissa, Febuary 01, 2013: The Police from the K.C. Pur Police Station at Betanati Block in Baripada District in Orissa, have recently arrested two believers while they were at a prayer meeting without any provocation, plunging the entire village into a state of tension.

It was on 18.01.2013 when a few believers belonging to 7 local families came together for a praying meeting in a village called Gudikhamari, about 15 kms from Baripada Town, under Betanati Block and Krushnachandrapur (K.C.Pur) Police Station. At about 11.30 in the morning, the police suddenly appeared at the spot and stopped the prayer meeting,. They also arrested their prayer leader Bro. Bahadur Murmu, 23, and Rama Soreng, 21, and took them both to the Police station. The police team was also accompanied by the fundamentalists belonging to the Hindu outfits of that village who falsely lodged complaints against these believers alleging that they had been engaged in conversion activities in violation of the OFRA, as per the statements by the Police.

The prayer meeting was being conducted in the house of a Santal tribal scheduled caste believer, one Bikash Purti, who has accepted Jesus Christ more than 5 years ago, and who is being guided by Pastor Rajesh Kumar Digal of New Creation Church at Balasore ever since.

The Hindu fundamentalists, it is learnt, were fully drunk and were shouting slogans of Hindu gods while accusing the believers using very obscene language even in the very presence of the police. Their plan of further attack and causing greater harm to the believers and their place of worship, couldn’t materialize since the police were present on the spot.

The police then warned the members of the 15 believer families who had come also from other nearby villages like Dubia, Ranasahi, Sanakhunta. The police also ordered them not to hold any such meetings in those villages as well. Then the police took the two believers to the K.C. Pur Police Station and kept them in their Custody for a day and then transferred them to Betanati Police Station the following day and charge-sheeted against them under section 06/2013 and produced them before the local court which sent them to Baripada Jail. Due to political pressure upon the police their attempts failed to get the victims released on bail.

– persecution.in