Jharkhand State in Eastern India has sought a federal investigation into 31 Christian charity organizations to check for the mishandling of overseas donations.

The state government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), suspects organizations have diverted donated funds for unspecified expenses and violated certain rules in submitting their annual reports, media reports said on April 13. Church leaders have termed the move an attempt to slander them and church bodies in the state.

“This is nothing but an attempt to give us bad press and malign our name,” said Archbishop Felix Toppo of Ranchi.

He said they have learned from media that the government has recommended the Federal Home Ministry to use the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe 31 Christian non-governmental organizations, most of them Catholic.