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Another Church Vandalised In Karnataka Amid Row Over Anti- Conversion Bill

Bengaluru: A church has been vandalised in Chikkaballapur district in southern Karnataka. The 160-year-old St Josephโ€™s church has a broken statue of St Anthony. The police came and took away the statue for further investigation. A first information report, or FIR, has been filed.

The priest of the church, Father Jospeh Anthony Daniel, told NDTV that the church in Susaipalya, some 65 km from state capital Bengaluru, is believed to have been damaged around 5.30 this morning.

A parishioner saw the damage at 5.40 am and immediately called the priest, who came to the spot. Father Joseph filed a complaint with the police.

He said this kind of vandalism had never happened before.

In recent weeks, there have been disturbances in Christian prayer meetings in different parts of Karnataka. A new bill has been introduced in the ongoing session of the state assembly in Belagavi, called the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill.The government says the bill is aimed at preventing forced conversions, but critics say it is targeting minorities in the state and is harsher than similar bills in other BJP-ruled states.

Protests against the bill have been held, including one in Bengaluru yesterday in which Archbishop Peter Machado participated.

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Breaking News: Blast In Ludhiana Court Complex Two Dead, 5 Injured

Aleesha Sam

Ludhiana: Two dead in an explosion in District Court Complex Second floor, five injured in Ludhiana, Punjab.The blast took place on the 2 floor of the complex. The police have rushed to the incident.The explosion took place in the washroom on the second floor. The area has been cordoned off by the police and the court premises is being vacated.

The blast reportedly took place at 12:22 pm inside a bathroom on the second floor of the building. The explosion damaged the walls of the bathroom and ripped through a section of the building, besides shattering glass in nearby rooms. The district court was crowded and functioning when the explosion took place.

In visuals, injured people were carried out of the building and police were trying to remove people from the complex.

The incident exposes a huge security lapse in a building so close to the District Commissioner of Policeโ€™s office in the heart of Ludhiana city. Investigations are focusing on how the explosives were smuggled into the court complex despite security.

A team of the National Investigation Agency or NIA has been sent to the blast site.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was among the first to react to the incident, which has taken place in the middle of a fierce campaign for the Punjab election early next year. In a Twitter post, Mr Singh asked Punjab police to investigate the incident thoroughly.

As Chief Minister earlier this year, Mr Singh had expressed concerns about the threat to the state from Pakistan-backed terror forces and had sought 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and anti-drone gadgets for the Border Security Force (BSF) for protection.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal said the blast, and the incidents of sacrilege in which two persons were lynched, were aimed at disrupting peace in Punjab ahead of the polls.

โ€œFirst sacrilege, now blast. Some people want to destroy the peace in Punjab but we will not allow such plans to succeed. We should stand together,โ€ tweeted Mr Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi.

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