Rector Murder case cracked, three suspects arrested
Bangalore, India, 22 March 2014: A Catholic priest and two other men have been arrested
in connection with the murder of a seminary rector in southern India’s Bangalore almost
a year ago, police said on Friday.
Father Elias Daniel, a Carmelite priest,
and two other people identified only as William Patrick and Peter, are now in police
custody.
"We have very strong evidence that these people have done it," said
senior police officer Pranab Mohanthy, who leads the investigation, referring to the
murder of Father K. J. Thomas of Bangalore's St. Peters seminary on March 31 last
year.
Police said there was "a lot of resentment" towards the rector by the
accused, who felt they had been sidelined for important posts in the seminary.
According
to police, the accused had hatched a "criminal conspiracy" and selected Easter Day
when most occupants of the seminary would be on leave.
"They went in prepared
to kill," said Mohanthy, additional commissioner of police, who led the team of detectives
investigating the murder. He said they were armed and made no attempt to mask themselves.
"They were ready to kill whoever confronted them," he said.
Church sources
admitted the case is linked to a three-decade-old ethnic language issue simmering
in the Church in Bangalore. Local Catholics who speak Kannada say they are neglected
in policy decisions and appointments in the Church, which is dominated by migrant
Catholics from neighboring Tamil Nadu and Kerala states.
The police examined
2,000 people in connection with the case and a large volume of call details was analyzed.
Five people, including three Catholic priests, were subjected to narco-analysis tests. Source:
UCAN