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Hindu nationalists questioned over pastors' killings

Police have questioned about 150 Hindu nationalists and detained several people in connection with the recent discovery of the bodies of two Christian pastors, officials said, but Hindu groups protested they were being maligned without evidence.

Two Protestant priests have been found dead in Hyderabad, capital of southern Andhra Pradesh state in recent weeks. The mutilated body of K. Isaac Raju, 45, who went missing on May 24, was found on Thursday, Police Commissioner Mahendra Reddy said Saturday.

His body was tied up with a rope and stuffed in a jute bag, found after police received an anonymous call. Reddy said he was believed to have been killed up to four days ago.

Last month, another Christian preacher, K. Daniel, disappeared from his residence. His body was found days later.

Both were taken from their homes by unknown people who said their services were needed at weddings.

Police questioned 150 activists of Hindu nationalist groups, including the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, after a newspaper in the state's Warangal town gave to the police an anonymous letter it had received, claiming that the previously unknown Anti-Christian Forum had carried out the killings. Reddy also received an anonymous call from a man who said a Hindu nationalist outfit was involved.

On Thursday night, police raided the office of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu organization, and also detained members of Hindu religious and political groups from different parts of Warangal, but they were released because of a lack of evidence.

Christians number less than 2 percent of the population in India, a secular country of 1 billion people where Hindus form the overwhelming majority.

Christian groups say their community is frequently under attack from Hindu right-wingers, and many attacks in small towns or villages have been found to be motivated by religious hatred.
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