Century old Catholic Church set to fire in Srinagar

SRINAGAR: Two scooter-borne youth tried to set a century-old Catholic church on fire at Residency road here on Thursday evening. The main door of the church was partially burnt.

The incident has been captured by a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) installed in the church. The CCTV footage shows two scooter-borne youth carrying petrol in a bottle. After entering in to the premises of the church at about 8.15 PM on May 24, 2012, the duo sprinkled petrol on the main door of the church and set it on fire. The two youth, whose faces were uncovered, afterwards walked out of the church premises through the main gate, the footage shows.

The fire however extinguished on its own due to cold weather and rain. Father Mathew Thomas, priest of the church, discovered the incident on Friday and reported it to the Jammu & Kashmir police immediately.

The century old church, also known as holy family catholic church, is attended by over 60-70 people every Sunday.

Miscreants earlier set a motor bike, of one of the church employees, on fire on January 28, 2012 inside the church premises. The matter was reported to the Jammu and Kashmir police and an FIR lodged in the Kothi Bagh police station but no action was taken, father Thomas told the TOI.

Read full report at
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Miscreants-try-to-set-Kashmir-Catholic-church-on-fire/articleshow/13526834.cms

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