Nagaland Deputy CM condemns attempt to burn down church building

DIMAPUR — Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister and BLP Leader Y Patton has condemned the attempt to burn down a church building at Kinunger village in Mokokchung district on Friday, terming it “outrageous and numbing”.

Reacting to a report by this newspaper about the church arson incident in Kinunger, he said that “attempting to burn down a Church is never expected and never heard of in the state of Nagaland for Christ” and “such act is against the very tenet of our Christian believes”.

Terming the incident “very unfortunate”, Patton stated in a press release that the “perpetrators trying to create fear psychosis among the people and disturb the peace of the land shall be punished”.

He also directed the law enforcement agency to thoroughly investigate the case, unearth the truth and award befitting punishment to the culprits, as per the law of the land.

It may be mentioned that Kinunger village council chairman, Imlikenba, had earlier informed that two fire incidents were reported in the village on Friday. Two houses and a granary were completely destroyed in the incident that took place around 9:40 am, while a potential church arson attempt was discovered around 9:40 am on the same day.

Villagers reportedly found three packaged drinking water bottles filled with petrol inside the church, one of which had ignited, causing minor damage to the floor and chairs.

Two more petrol-filled bottles were found in vacant houses during a subsequent search around the village, said the village council chairman.

A FIR has been lodged and the police personnel have seized the bottles containing petrol for investigation, he added.