12 Apr 2017 | Hindustan Times
Bhopal: Three Christians were arrested from a village in Madhya Pradesh’s
Khandwa district on charges of converting people on Sunday, officials
said on Tuesday, in what is being perceived as an attack on minorities
in the state.
Piplod police station in charge sub-inspector
Shivram Patidar said they arrested Amarsingh, 35, of Khaknar Burhanpur,
Kishor Barela, 30, Kalukhedi, and Prabhakar Barela, 39, of Jalgaon in
Maharashtra from Sitabedi village, and booked them under the state’s
anti-conversion law – the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam.
“They were produced before a local court and sent to jail,” Patidar said.
Police
said the accused had organised a medical camp but told the villagers
that they would be cured of their ailments if they embraced the cross
and started believing in Jesus Christ.
Patidar said the men belong to Delhi-based Indian Evangelical Team.
He
said a man called Raju Barela submitted a written complaint following
which the arrests were made around 3pm on Sunday. Patidar said a cross
and religious literature were seized from the camp that was being
attended by about 40 to 50 villagers.
Raju said he attended the camp because he had a stomachache and a
headache. He added that when the organisers started talking about Jesus
Christ, he left the camp and approached the police.
Indian Evangelical team administrator Jais Varghese denied that any conversion was going on in the camp.
“These
are false accusations. From what I could gather from my sources, it was
a planned prayer meeting on Palm Sunday going on in the village when
some people came with the police and made these charges and arrested the
three persons,” Varghese told Hindustan Times over the phone from
Delhi.
This is not the first time that charges of conversion have
been slapped against Christians in the state under the tough
anti-conversion law. There have been at least 4 such cases reported in
the last two years in the state.
Previous arrests
December 28, 2015: 3 preachers arrested from Morani village, Barwani
January 18, 2016: 12 arrested from Dhar district
May 23, 2016: 3 arrested from Satna district
June 23, 2016: 2 arrested from Rewa district
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