Lucknow: Bahraich police arrested three persons, including a pastor, for an alleged attack on a Bajrang Dal worker in Bahraich.
The arrests were made based on a complaint lodged by Deepanshu Srivastava of Bajrang Dal where he said that the pastor, Anil, and his two aides – Rohit and Ram Narayan – had attacked him on July 12 with sticks and rods. Earlier, Deepanshu had lodged another police complaint against the pastor accusing him of indulging in illegal religious conversion.
Bahraich superintendent of police Prashant Verma said that Deepanshu had claimed that Anil and his two aides developed an enmity with him because he filed a case against them earlier.
Verma said that around 10:30 pm on July 12, when Deepanshu was going to a friend’s house in Bajria locality, Anil, Ram Narayan and two unidentified others intercepted him and forced him to get off from his vehicle. Later, they abused him and hit him with an iron rod. After he raised the alarm, passers-by intervened. He was taken to a local hospital.
Later, the victim registered an FIR against Anil, Ram Narayan and two unidentified persons under IPC’s section 307 (attempt to murder) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) at the Nanpara police station.
On June 4, Deepanshu had filed another FIR against Anil, Ram Narayan and four others for allegedly persuading people to embrace Christianity and criticising Hindu gods and goddesses.
The “mass prayer” was organised on the campus of a church at Bhagwapurva area in Nanpara locality. Later, another FIR was lodged on July 9 against 18 persons, including pastor Anil, on allegations of organising a mass prayer to persuade people to adopt Christianity.
