Attack on church: Govt 'protecting' culprits, alleges Congress

The Congress on Wednesday attacked the Uttarakhand government, alleging that it is protecting those responsible for the attack on a church in the states Roorkee two months ago.The party also accused the government of harassing the minorities while demanding strict action against the culprits.

The Congress on Wednesday attacked the Uttarakhand government, alleging that it is "protecting" those responsible for the attack on a church in the state's Roorkee two months ago.

The party also accused the government of "harassing" the minorities while demanding strict action against the culprits. A mob had vandalised the church on October 3 in Roorkee's Solanipur, alleging that religious conversions were being carried out there. Police had lodged a case against 150-200 people, eight of which have been named in the complaint. However, they are yet to make any arrest in the case.

State Congress vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana alleged that the BJP government is "harassing" minorities and "protecting" the attackers.

He said, ''Instead of helping the minorities, the state government is registering a case against them and protecting the guilty. The Congress will never tolerate this." Dhasmana said he had met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the state DGP over the issue, and demanded action against the culprits but nothing has been done so far. Meanwhile, DGP Ashok Kumar told PTI that investigation into the case is still on. "Action will definitely be taken against those found guilty,'' he said.

State BJP leader Manveer Singh Chouhan denied the charge of shielding the culprits and said his party does not support any kind of violent incident. ''Our party opposes conversion but we do not support violent activities,'' he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)