Villupuram: Five persons, including the pastor of the Arcot Lutheran Church at Vriddachalam Road in Ulundurpet, were booked by the police on Saturday, following the Madras High Court directive seeking filing of a case against them over the alleged violence in the church in June – a fallout of alleged mismanagement of funds.
It may be noted here that there was a year-long dispute between the supporters of the pastor and the church secretary over handling of funds.
D Berlee, the secretary, had been in-charge of the accounts for the past four years in decade-old church, while Karunai Kannan was the pastor, reported Indian Express.
Over the last one year or so, Karunai has been alleging that Berlee has defrauded the funds and been demanded the former’s resignation.
But, Berlee did not quit, saying it was Karunai who was planning to swindle the funds and Berlee has been staging several protests against the pastor.
Moreover, the supporters of the two used to get into fights during the church meetings.
In a fight that broke out in June last, both sides attacked one another and damaged the church property.
Following the incident, the Ulundurpet police registered a case against Berlee and five others, but spared Karunai and his men.
Alleging partiality by the police, Berlee filed a case in the Madras High Court seeking arrest of Karunai and four of his supporters in connection with the June incident.
Besides, the court on Friday directed the police to register a case against the pastor and his supporters and to investigate into the issue.
Based on the court directive, the police officials booked four persons – Prabhu Easiya Joseph, Prabhu Jacob Joseph, Maran Issac Christy and Sampath Kumar, apart from Karunai Kannan and have begun investigations.