Jagdalpur: Around 150 Hindu extremists attacked a church at Mandwa village near Jagdalpur in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on 19 November 2007. They destroyed the church building belonging to the Bastar for Christ Missionary Movement, beat up Pastor Suduru Kashyap and his associates, and kidnapped 21-year-old Aayatu Kashyap, who was later found dead.

In spite of providing the names of the culprits and the license number of an extremists’ vehicle, the police waited until the next day to file a complaint. The extremists were armed with hammers, iron rods and other heavy arms.

The attackers arrived at the site around 5 pm and brought down the church building. Some of the extremists entered Pastor Suduru’s quarters nearby and tied up Pastor Suduru (35) and his associates. The extremists beat them up and tried to kill Pastor Suduru by throwing a heavy stone on his head. The mob also warned the Pastor against holding any church services again.

A case has been registered against the accused under the following sections of the Indian Penal Code: 147, 148, 149, 452, 447, 294, 295(a), 427, 323 and 506. Four days after the attack, 15 people have been arrested. To provide a security cover, a team of 30 constables has been deployed to Mandwa village. The police have not yet registered a case for the death of Aayatu Kashyap.