Source:  www.assistnews.net

Date: August 26, 2007 

By James Varghese
Special to ASSIST News Service

NIZAMABAD, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA (ANS) -- A Christian trader has been taken into custody and allegedly beaten up at the police station in Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh.

According to the All India Christian Council news site, he was earlier threatened by Hindu fundamentalists for allegedly breaking a tile carrying the picture of a Hindu god while renovating a shop taken on rent.

The trader Justine, a member on the district committee of the All India Christian Council (AICC) in Nizamabad, took a room on rent adjacent to his shop as part of expanding his business. While carrying out some renovation work, a picture of Ganapati (Hindu God) fixed on the wall got broken. Infuriated, the owner mobilized a group of Hindu fundamentalists and threatened him on 22 august 2007.

They, in fact, wanted to beat him up, but his neighbors and some pastors helped him escape. Around 1:00 am on August 23, 2007, policemen came to his house, arrested him and took him away. He was not given time even to change his dress. He was allegedly beaten up by the police in the police station.

Justine is still in a lock-up at Nizamabad One Town Police Station. The Hindu fundamentalists are insisting that the police file a case against him. AICC leaders are making efforts to contact Circle Inspector Laxminarayana and Sub Inspector Kuddish, but apparently the police officers are avoiding meeting with them.