Desecration of church Tarn Taran: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Wednesday, ordered an inquiry into an incident of desecration and arson at a church at Thakkarpur village in the Patti area of the Tarn Taran district on Tuesday midnight.

“No one will be allowed to break the brotherhood of Punjab. The Tarn Taran incident is very unfortunate. Investigate it and (take) strict action against the culprits,” Chief Minister Mann said in a tweet.

“This is a highly condemnable incident and strict action should be taken against the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” he said, adding that Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav has been asked to get to the bottom of the incident.

Attributing the incident to forces inimical to the peace, prosperity, and progress of the state, the chief minister said the purpose of this act was to spoil the peaceful atmosphere of the state and destroy the communal harmony and brotherhood.

He asserted that the state government won’t allow the nefarious designs to succeed. The state government will thwart all such conspiracies and will take strict action against the culprits so that others can learn a lesson from it. He reiterated his government’s commitment to peace and tranquility of the state.

According to a statement issued by Father Thomas Poochalil, parish priest at the Infant Jesus Catholic Church, Patti, the incident took place at about 12:45 am tonight on the campus of Infant Jesus Catholic Church, Patti.

Recounting the incident, he said some unidentified persons vandalised the statues of Mother Mary, and Jesus Christ, and set a car on fire after entering the church holding the security guards on duty at gunpoint. In the CCTV footage of the incident, two persons can be seen vandalising the statues.

The incident took place a day after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Chief Harjinder Singh Dhami condemned the alleged efforts being made in Punjab for religious conversions by Christian missionaries. The head priest of Akal Takht, the temporal seat of Sikhs, had said that any forced religious conversion will not be tolerated at any cost. Singh and Dhami demanded action against those who convert people forcibly or through allurement.

They also demanded the withdrawal of an FIR against some Nihangs who were booked for allegedly disrupting an event organised by Christian missionaries at Daduana village in Amritsar district on Monday.

Registering a case against Nihang Sikhs after they made an effort to stop some people working for alleged religious conversion at Daduana village on Sunday at Mehta road in Amritsar was highly unfortunate, the Sikh leaders said.

“It is sad that some people are deliberately disturbing the environment of Punjab by giving it a communal colour and it will not be tolerated,” they said, adding strict action should be taken against the people who are converting people forcibly, by allurement, fraudulent manner and by spreading superstitions.