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Journalism of Courage
HYDERABAD, JULY 29: A prominent church leader Bishop G Emanuel was hacked to death by unidentified persons inside a church compound in Guntur town on Saturday evening, in what police believe to be a case of factional rivalry.
Emanuel, president of Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), was attacked by unidentified assailants with axes and knives when he was coming out of his office room, Guntur district police said when contacted over phone.
The 64-year-old Bishop was proceeding to his residence within the AELC complex when the attack took place. A profusely bleeding Emanuel was rushed to Guntur Government Hospital, but was declared dead on admission, police said. Police sources said the slain Bishop was involved in a local land dispute and was facing threat from rival groups. Emanuel was elected President of AELC in 1997.
Meanwhile, police picked up three people in connection with the attack, police sources said. There was mild tension in the town following the incident when an enraged group of Christian youths organised a rasta roko near the Andhra Christian College. The DIG (Guntur range) Malakondaiah and DSP J Poornachander Rao visited the spot.
The AELC has been, for a long time, plagued by internal squabbles and protracted legal battles, police said, adding that one of the warring faction had recently leased out a portion of the church complex to an NRI for construction of a medical college, a report from Guntur said.
The rival faction had since moved the court and got the lease agreement revoked. Meanwhile, DIG M Malakondaiah said that the case would be investigated from all angles. "Our first task is to establish the motive," he said.
The slain bishop is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.
