West Delhi church vandalised

A newly-opened church at West Delhi's Matiala here was vandalised allegedly by local miscreants while they were holding Sunday mass prayers, the Delhi Police said. Those holding the prayers were a

A newly-opened church at West Delhi's Matiala here was vandalised allegedly by local miscreants while they were holding Sunday mass prayers, the Delhi Police said. Those holding the prayers were also allegedly manhandled by the miscreants, locals said.

According to locals, a group of 20 to 30 persons were holding Sunday mass proceedings at the church, named Ankur Narula Church, at around 11 a.m., when a group of miscreants, allegedly belonging to Bajrang Dal, came and disrupted the proceedings. Further, they went on to vandalise the church’s entrance and signboard and allegedly manhandled a few locals attending the prayers.

A woman who was part of the prayers, requesting anonymity, said that a group of 30 to 40 persons entered the church, which had opened only a week back, and started using foul words against the worshippers. She added that the group arrived at the church again towards the evening and further vandalised the church. “All of them were armed and we managed to catch hold of one of them who confessed that he belonged to the group,” the woman said.