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Evangelist held for proselytisation
Evangelist Mondithoka Sudheer, who was allegedly involved in religious propaganada in Tiurmala was arrested by the police.
Tirupati: Evangelist Mondithoka Sudheer, who was allegedly involved in religious propaganada in Tirumala was arrested by the police. A special police team detained him in his native village Ramanagaram, in Vissannapet mandal near Nuzvid, early on Thursday and brought him here.
Chittoor SP Gopinath Jetti said, based on a complaint from BJP leader and advocate Samanchi Srinivas, a criminal case, under Section 3 of the AP propagation of Other Religion in Places of Worship or Prayer (Prohibition) Act 2007 and 66-A (a,b) of IT (Amendment) Act 2008, under 153-A IPC, 295-A IPC, r--w 34 IPC, was registered against Sudheer in Tirumala Two Town police station. Another case was registered in Alipiri police station after a complaint from TTD Vigilance officer. Gopinath said in the inquiry in the presence of two citizens, Sudheer admitted that he, along with his brother Sukumar, friends Yesuratnam, Joseph and David, visited Tirumala during the Samaikyandhra movement last year for shooting the video. The group set out in a car carrying Bible and printed Christian material to Tirumala.
But in Alipiri, the Bible and other material were to be left along with Yesuratnam to take care of them, after the toll gate security told them that they were prohibited in Tirumala. En route to Tirumala, the group shot at various locations from Alipiri to Tirumala on the ghat road, Devasthanam buildings and other locations. They returned to Hyderabad, where Sudheer recorded the video in his laptop and uploaded it on YouTube, which was revealed in the inquiry, he explained.
The SP said Sudheer after his MA in Nagarjuna University, set up Immanuel Baptist Ministry of India (IBMI) in 1980 and took up Christian propaganda. He converted many into Christianity during his propagation programme, based at Vanasthalipuram, Hyderabad.
He said an intense search was on to nab the four involved in the video shooting. Sudheer was produced in a court which remanded him to custody. The police said they would seek his custody for further investigation.
The Pastor was criticised for uploading a video clippings of Christian propaganda in Tirumala to internet channel YouTube. This triggered widespread protests here on Thursday. Political parties and groups denounced the group for resorting to propagation of other religion, affecting the sentiments of millions of Hindus.
BJP, VHP and other religious groups staged protest across AP and Telangana condemning the proselytisation on Tirumala.
