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Christians seek judicial probe into Delhi church fire

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A protestor holds a placard during a rally organised after a fire destroyed a church, outside Delhi police headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday
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A major portion of a church in the east of Delhi was gutted on Monday morning. On Tuesday hundreds of Christians protested outside the Delhi Police Headquarters the other side of the Yamuna, demanding a judicial inquiry. The police announced that a special investigation team will probe the fire, which, the archbishop of Delhi said, was deliberately set.

The fire has already assumed political overtones with the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party accusing the BJP of playing with fire on the eve of the Delhi assembly elections which could be held as early as in January 2015.
The fire at St Sebastian's Church in the Dilshad Garden locality of east Delhi was reported around 7.30am to the fire brigade on Monday morning. The fire was first noticed by a security guard of the church who, the police said, had stepped out for refreshments.

"The entire interior, including the Altar, the Holy Bible and Cross were reduced to ashes," the Delhi Archdiocese said in a statement.

On his return, he saw the fire and informed the church's priest who in turn called the fire brigade. It took four fire tenders two hours to douse the fire. The police have registered a case of arson, and are also looking into the likelihood of a short circuit causing the fire. The police said allegations of a strong smell of kerosene at the fire site have been made.

"The entire interior, including the Altar, the Holy Bible and Cross were reduced to ashes," the Delhi Archdiocese said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the incident was raised in Parliament by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien, who also took part in the protest outside police headquarters earlier in the morning. Archbishop Anil Couto said he has written to prime minister Narendra Modi asking for a judicial probe. "Churches are being attacked all over India," he said.

Union minister of parliamentary affairs M Venkaiah Naidu said the matter was serious and condemnable, and that he will be talking to home minister Rajnath Singh.

That the incident has already taken on political overtones with even church figures apprehending fears that it was engineered almost on the eve of Christmas with an eye on the upcoming Delhi elections. On Tuesday, Delhi Congress leader Arvinder Singh Jolly, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and Manoj Tiwari, BJP MP of east Delhi visited the spot and met the Christian leaders and church goers.

The Delhi Archdiocese has sought action against the police for reaching the spot two hours after the fire was reported. It alleged that the forensic team of the Delhi Police arrived at 5.30pm, almost 12 hours after the fire gutted the church. Around 500 Christian families live in Dilshad Garden.

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