Kohlapur: Masked men attack Christian mass congregation

Masked men, with swords, iron rods and glass bottles, attacked a prayer congregation of Christians at Kowad village on Karnataka border and injured 12 people, the police said on Tuesday.

The incident happened on Sunday noon when about 40 people had joined the mass prayer meet at the residence of Bhimsen Chavan who regularly conducts the Sunday prayer.

Suddenly a group of 10 to 15 masked men reached Chavan's residence on motorcycles and attacked the congregation and threw stones on the gathering.

They allegedly tried to barge into his house also. But some alert women who were part of the prayer meeting forced the attackers to back off by throwing chilli powder on them.

The attackers were suspected to have fled towards Belgaum in Karnataka. The police are looking for them in the border areas of Belgaum and Kolhapur.

Kohlapur Police and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) are investigating the incident in close coordination and are in constant touch with the Belgaum Police commissioner's office and Belgaum rural police to know the whereabouts of the accused. Five teams have been formed to nab those involved in the attack.

"All accused had covered their faces with cloth, so they could not be identified. But locals have seen them fleeing towards Belgaum. So the police are focusing their search in the border areas of Belgaum and Kolhapur," said Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh.