BJP MLA booked for ‘defying’ lockdown norms in Sindri

Sindri: BJP’s Sindri MLA Indrajeet Mahto and two dozen others were booked on Tuesday for violating lockdown norms in Dhanbad’s Baliapur area on Monday evening. According to police, the MLA held a meeting with a few others after receiving information of alleged forceful conversion by two preachers at an under-construction church in Belgaria township.
While the meeting was being held, a separate group of people reached the church and beat up the preachers — Kayan Bansal from Arunachal Pradesh and Shushanto Pradhan from Odisha — and also ransacked the church. The preachers were later admitted to Pataliputra Medical College and Hospital after they complained of abdominal pain. A separate FIR has been lodged against unidentified miscreants who carried out the attack on the preachers.
Dhanbad SP (city) R Ramkumar said, “The situation in the town is peaceful and enough force has been deployed to maintain law and order in the colony. Two separate FIRs have been filed under sections of IPC.” He also added that Mahto has been booked under Sections 188, 269 and 270 of the IPC.
According to sources, Mahto and Vishwa Hindu Parishad secretary Ramesh Pandey convened the meeting and informed others about a forceful religious conversion. Mahto also attacked JMM and blamed the government of patronizing Christian missionaries.
“If religious conversions are not stopped, action will be taken against preachers responsible for converting poor families to Christianity. We will also launch a massive agitation against this,” Mahto reportedly said in the meeting. He added, “As there are no Christians in the vicinity of the colony, how could the administration allow the construction of a church on a tribal land earlier acquired by Bharat Coking Coal Limited?”
Mahto also alleged that the preachers had initially said they are building a house to run tuitions.
Meanwhile, the persons who were allegedly converted, refuted the charges against the church and the preachers and said they were not pressurised to convert.
Kari Devi, who hails from Lakhisarai in Bihar, told mediapersons that when her husband fell ill, there was no one to support her. “The church came to my rescue and supported me. Later, I started attending prayer meets at the church.” Similarly, Gautam Bhuian, Pramod Bhuian, Puniya Devi, Payal Kumari, Sweaty Kumari, Nisha Kumari are among the others who regularly attend the church meets and echoed Kari on the issue.