Priest's cremation today
BHUBANESWAR, Sept 3
(UNI, PTI) — The body of the slain parish priest of
Anandpur Roman Catholic Church, Aruldoss, was retrieved
from Jamurani village in Mayurbhanj district and brought
to Anandpur in Keonjhar district today.
Father Doss was murdered
by a tribal mob armed with bows and arrows on the night
of September 1 in Jamurani village, located in the dense
forest about 15 km from the Mahuldiha police station.
The parish priest of the
Anandpur Roman Catholic Church had gone to the village
along with two others to attend a festival organised by
the local tribal Christian families.
According to reports
received here, the miscreants attacked the priest while
he was asleep inside the makeshift church along with one
Katesingh Khuntia.
An alarmed Doss was
first attacked by lathis. The miscreants also shot him
with arrows which hit his chest and he fell on the
ground. He was later brutally killed in the village.
The attackers also burnt
the thatched house where a makeshift church was
functioning before fleeing from the scene.
Mr Khuntia, who was
accompanying the priest, was also attacked but he escaped
and later lodged a complaint at the Sarat police station.
Darshan Birua, who was
also with the pastor, escaped the miscreants' wrath as he
was dancing with the Christian tribals.
Birua filed an FIR in
the Mahuldiha police station stating that about 15
persons armed with bows and arrows attacked the parish
priest, killing him and then setting the church on fire.
He, however, failed to identify the miscreants.
Mr Khuntia, who was
sleeping along with Father Doss inside the thatched
house, was admitted to the Kaptipada hospital where he
was discharged after first aid.
The killing of the
priest comes within 12 hours of the Orissa bandh called
by the ruling Congress and eight other parties protesting
against the attack on minorities in the state.
On August 26, a Muslim
trader was attacked and burnt to death by a group of
miscreants allegedly led by Dara Singh, the prime accused
in the killings of Australian missionary Graham Stewart
Staines and his two minor sons.
Graham Staines and his
two sons were burnt to death at Manoharpur village in
Keonjhar district on January 22 while they were sleeping
inside a station wagon. They had gone to the village to
attend a social congregation of the Christian tribals in
a jungle camp.
A Balasore report said
the body of Father Doss would arrive here tonight and
will be cremated tomorrow. Preparations were on at the
diocese of Balasore Roman Catholic Church in Balasore for
the cremation.
Father Doss (35)
originally belonged to Tamil Nadu but came to Keonjhar
five years ago and was staying in Singuria village under
Anandpur subdivision of the district.
Meanwhile, the police
has launched a combing operation in the area to nab the
miscreants. The borders of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar
districts had been sealed and a house to house search
launched in the nearby villages as the police apprehend
that the criminals were hiding in the dense forest.
It was not known
immediately whether the incident had any similarity with
the Staines' killing but the modus operandi appeared
similar. Both incidents occurred on a Hindu festival day.
CHENNAI: Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister and the DMK President M Karunanidhi
has expressed shock over the killing of Aruldoss.
The Orissa government
should take steps to stop such atrocities, he said.
The All India Pastors
and Evangelists Welfare Fellowship, comprising leaders of
the Christian community, on Friday demanded the
resignation of Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and the
Orissa Chief Minister, Mr Giridhar Gamang, in the wake of
the recent killing of businessman Sheik Rahman and priest
Aruldoss on Thursday in Orissa.
Meanwhile, the CPM has
said it will not hesitate to take the Congress government
in Orissa to task if it failed to arrest the culprits
involved in the latest murder of a Christian priest in
Keonjhar district in the state.
CPM General Secretary
Harkishen Singh Surjeet told a press conference here on
Friday that it was clear that in the earlier incidents
(the burning of Graham Staines and the murder of a Muslim
trader), Dara Singh of the Bajrang Dal was involved.
Asked whether Dara Singh
was being protected by the Congress government in the
state, as he had not been apprehended for months, he said
the party would not "spare" the Congress, if it
was found doing so.
Yet, that would not
absolve the communal forces that were responsible for the
gruesome killing of Staines and his sons, he said, adding
that the BJP was in power at the Centre and it was
possible for it "to influence the Orissa police by
false propaganda", Mr Surjeet said.
The Wadhwa Commission
report identified Dara Singh as the culprit, but did not
mention his political affiliations, he said.
JAMSHEDPUR: The
Christian Community Welfare Council of India (CCWCI) on
Friday condemned the killing of a priest at Jamabani
village in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district.
The executive
vice-president of the CCWCI, Mr S.R. Das, said recent
incident in the state like the murder of an Australian
missionary and his two sons, killing a Muslim trader and
now the killing of the Catholic priest showed that
"anti-minority community forces" had been at
work in an organised manner there.
Both the central and
state governments had "miserably" failed to
check the recurrence of such incidents, he told PTI,
adding that it was important to find out the reason
behind such killings.
Several attacks were
made on Christian institutions and churches in the past
but no concrete steps were taken to stop such incidents
and both state and central governments only condemned the
incidents, he alleged.
The CCWCI executive
vice-president also demanded that a CBI or judicial probe
be ordered to "unearth the main reason for unabated
attacks on the minority community."
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