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Convent school attacked in Mathura

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

In a sensational incident, armed miscreants on Monday attacked a Christian missionary school in Kosi Kalan town in Mathura district in western Uttar Pradesh.

Confirming the incident, provincial police chief Sri Ram Arun told rediff.com, "According to information reaching here, some unidentified persons attacked St Teresa's convent in the small town of Kosi Kalan some time last night."

He however flatly ruled out the possibility of the incident being a communal one. " Prima facie, it was a case of loot, but I have still directed the Agra range deputy inspector general of police to personally visit the place and carry out a detailed investigation," he said. "The guilty will be brought to book under all circumstances."

According to him, "The school principal and some teachers were present in the school when the incident took place." No one suffered any serious injury, he clarified.

Christian organisations in the state have strongly condemned the incident, and some leaders saw the hand of a hardliner Hindu wing of the Sangh Parivar.

"The BJP government was deliberately trying to make out that it was a case of loot when it is a well-orchestrated attack on innocent Christians," a senior citizen said.

He claimed that such incidents were increasing in Uttar Pradesh, particularly after the "guilty" got away with gang-rape of three young nuns in Gajraula in western UP (about 100 km from Delhi) a few years ago.

The state police chief, however, denied that such incidents have been on the rise in UP.

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