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BANDITS ROB CATHOLIC CHURCH IN EASTERN INDIAN STATE OF BIHAR

Updated: February 17, 1992 05:00 PM GMT
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Bandits robbed a Catholic church in the eastern Indian state of Bihar Feb. 10 and threatened to kill a resident priest.

The thieves broke into St. Joseph the Worker Church of Nawada, 70 kilometers south of Patna, the state capital, and walked away with valuables and money.

Jesuit Bishop Benedict Osta of Patna told UCA News Feb. 15 that the robbers, who are yet to be identified, threatened to kill Father George Theruvan, priest-in-charge, before they "cleaned out" the church premises.

"They put a gun to Father Theruvan´s forehead and threatened to shoot him if he objected," Bishop Osta said after visiting Nawada.

The priest was forced to lie on his bed and surrender his keys. The bandits worked quietly and did not awaken other people in the house, he said.

The attackers damaged church property and broke open the tabernacle, the bishop said. They also cut telephone lines.

After the bandits left, Father Theruvan woke up others and informed police from a neighbor´s house. Police arrived within 15 minutes and began investigations, a press release from the bishop´s house reported.

The parish, Bishop Osta explained, "has faced troubles for some time."

Police now watch the parish and a few suspects have been booked, he added.

The loss is yet to be ascertained but the money included school fees, collection of parish credit union society and fuel charges, the bishop said.

Father Varkey Perekkatt, regional superior of Delhi Jesuit region, told UCA News Feb. 15 that attacks on church institutions and personnel have become a "common feature" in strife-torn Bihar state.

Thirty-nine upper caste people in Gaya, west of Nawada, were killed reportedly in retaliation for attacks on two neighboring low caste villages on Dec. 23, 1991.

On Sept. 24, 1991, thugs attacked a Jesuit priest in Sasaram, west of Nawada, allegedly for not quitting an adult literacy center.

Father Perekkat said Sasaram bandits gunned down his companion Jesuit Father Mathew Mannaparambil in March, 1980.

American Jesuit Father L. Martinseck, who worked in Mokama parish, some 60 kilometers east of Patna, was murdered in February, 1979.

No one has been arrested so far in connection with these cases.

END

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