Christian leaders in India have sought an impartial probe into the destruction of a cent-ury-old statue of Jesus Christ at a British-era Catholic church in Ambala in the northern state of Haryana.
Two men were seen on CCTV footage scaling the church compound on Christ-mas night and destroying the statue after breaking open the casket.
Police arrested two suspects after three days and a court remanded them into judicial custody. But church leaders suspect the case may get diluted with the investigating officer saying the suspected vandals were drunk.
“The police officers tasked with the investigation is siding with the suspects and trying to dilute the crime on the plea that they acted under the influence of liquor,” said Father Patras Mundu, parish priest of the Holy Redeemer Church in Ambala Cantonment in the Diocese of Simla-Chandigarh.
The police did not charge the arrested suspects for viola-ting the curfew orders imposed in the city, he said, adding that one of the arrested is a government employee and hence familiar with the laws of the land.