A Christmas crib installed in a church compound in Outer Delhi's Rohini area was gutted in fire.
While the spokesman of Delhi archdiocese terming the fire a case of "targeted arson", the police suspect that it could have happened due to a short circuit.
According to the CCTV footage, the fire broke out at around 2 AM in which all the statues and the decorations of the tableau set up depicting the birth of Jesus Christ were gutted.
The incident came to light at around 8 AM when people reached the church for morning prayers.
Police suspect the fire was caused due to a spark in the lights used to decorate the tableau. However, it has registered a case in this regard and forensics team inspected the spot and lifted samples to determine the exact cause of fire.
A special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to probe the case. Police also scanned the CCTV footage of the church premises for investigation.
Savari Muthu Sankar, spokesman for the Delhi archdiocese, dismissed the police suspicion about short-circuit and alleged it was a case of targeted arson.
"I have seen the CCTV footage and someone threw something from outside which caused the blaze. Luckily, the crib was outside the main church near the compound wall otherwise the entire church would have been burnt," he said.
"It was raining all night and these are winters. Short-circuit cannot happen in these circumstances. Also, lights are working in the church and had it been short-circuit, it would not have worked," he said.
"Police declared it was due to a short circuit without a proper investigation. They didn't even wait for the forensic team to arrive and investigate, he added.
On December 1, the St. Sebastian Catholic Church in northeast Delhi's Dilshad Garden was gutted in a fire which too was termed by the community as targeted arson.
A day after the incident, at least 1,000 people protested outside the Delhi Police headquarters demanding a probe and a SIT probe is on in the case.
