A pastor of an Independent Pentecostal Church, Chamu Hasda Purty aged 54, was shot dead in Sandhi village of Khunti district of Jharkhand by a group of miscreants.
According to a source, the incident happened on the night of Oct. 12. Pastor Chamu along with his wife was in his house and was preparing to sleep when some unidentified men knocked at the door under the pretext of seeking prayers from the pastor while claiming to be sick. When Pastor's wife checked through the adjacent room's window she was frightened to see 3-4 people wearing a uniform with rifles in their hand.
Fearing their life when couple refuse to open the door the miscreants broke the door open and fired indiscriminately on pastor, who died on the spot.
According to the village residents, Pastor Purty was a well respected man and his village prayer meetings were attended by people of different cast or creed. The incident has created panic among the area's Christians.
Superintendent of Police Anis Gupta said that they have identified the killers and are on their trail though they are unsure of the motive of the killing.
