Basudevpur: The police Saturday detained six persons who were allegedly trying to convert residents of Parapokhari village, under the jurisdiction of Kasia Marine police station in Bhadrak district, into Christian faith.
Sabitri Panda, officer-in-charge (IIC) of Kasia Marine police station said that a case had been registered against the six persons following complaint by a villager. She said investigations are underway to fi nd out the veracity of allegations pertaining to religious conversation attempts. “Further inquiries are continuing to determine the details of the incident,” she said.
Meanwhile, reports said that the alleged attempt to spread Christian faith and conversion by a group of people evoked strong opposition from the villagers. According to reports, one Shiba Jena from Parapokhari village – along with six others from Bhubaneswar who belong to Christian community – had organised a religious gathering on his son’s 21st day ceremony. It included prayers and other Christian rituals.
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During the conduct of the event, they allegedly appealed to the villagers to embrace Christianity. This invited strong disapproval from the villagers, with some of them questioning the purpose of ‘outsiders’ preaching another faith within their community. The situation led to a standoff during which the group was detained and handed over to the Kasia Marine police at around 8 pm. The police took the six persons for questioning. Later, a written complaint was lodged by Susanta Kumar Raut, a resident of Parapokhari.
PNN
