suggested they are close to arresting religious extremists blamed for the killings of two native missionaries in recent weeks, BosNewsLife established Wednesday, June 8.
"Leads suggest that some communal organizations could be behind the murder of Gospel preacher" K. Daniel and pastor K. Issac Raju, said city Police Commissioner, V. Dinesh Reddy.
He told reporters that "phone calls received on preacher K. Daniel’s mobile" provided "important clues." Though the motive for his murder "was yet to be established," investigators believe the "same culprits" could be behind the killing of pastor K. Issac Raju, Reddy added. Christians say they believe police is searching among Hindu militants.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Six special teams have been formed "to crack the case and progress was being monitored every four hours," the police commissioner said. Reddy said persons providing information on the culprits would be given more nearly $2,300 in local currency.
The police has come under increasing pressure to solve the murders quickly, amid growing concern within the Christian community about what church leaders describe as growing Hindu violence in several areas of India.
Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, told a Christian delegation Tuesday, May 7, he was "concerned" about the killings of the men, who also included Rev Sydney David, although details surrounding his death remain sketchy.
JUTE BAG
In a statement, advocacy group All Indian Christian Council said Monday. June 6. pastor Raju’s body was discovered "wrapped in a jute bag that was dumped behind bushes in the Golconda area, just outside the state capital, Hyderabad."
Raju, who led an independent church on the outskirts of the city, is survived by his wife and 18-year-old son. His 15-year-old daughter died in a road accident in April.
This was the second known killing of a Christian minister in Andhra Pradesh in recent weeks after Hindu extremists allegedly "tortured and killed" native missionary K. Daniel, a preacher from Kummarvadi, Thursday May 19. The same day a court acquitted fellow militants in the murder of another, Australian, missionary Australian Missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons Philip and Timothy in 1999 in Orissa. (Satya Sundar Mishrais BosNewsLife India Reporter based in Orissa. Mishra, 26, is a Development Journalist of Orissa working on social and religious issues that are not yet on the radar screen of media and politicians. He has been working for a variety of key publications. He can be reached via e-mail satya_mishra11@rediffmail.com ).
