No church was attacked in the city: Delhi Police tells Centre

New Delhi: Delhi Police has told the Union Home Ministry that no church in the city was attacked by any group and the recent incidents were of either theft, short circuit or stone-pelting after petty clashes that had nothing to do with the Christian community. [caption id=“attachment_2221518” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Delhi church which caught fire. Firstpost/Tarique Anwar[/caption] In a report, the Delhi Police told the Home Ministry that out of the six incidents of alleged vandalism of churches, two were cases of theft, two were incidents of short circuit and in other two incidents, stones were pelted as a retaliation of individual clashes. The stones landed in the churches as the clashes took place near them and the said fights had nothing to do with the community, the report said. Sources said in its report to the Home Ministry, the Delhi Police has conveyed that around 300 temples, 42 mosques were also burgled in last one year. Christian groups have alleged that the churches were vandalised and demanded their full protection. The Delhi Police has already provided security to churches and Christian institutions. There are 240 churches in the city. CCTV cameras were installed in 161 churches. SHOs of all police stations in Delhi have been asked to regularly patrol around churches while PCR vans, ERVs and motorcycle patrols have been deployed outside these establishments. Recently, Delhi Police has appointed an officer of the rank of Additional DCP as the “nodal officer” for attending to issues related to churches and educational institutions of the community. PTI