The Chhattisgarh Police on Tuesday arrested five persons, including a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, in connection with a mob attack on a church in Narayanpur district of the state on January 2, reported PTI.

The five arrested persons have been identified as BJP leader Rupsai Salam, Pawankumar Nag, Atul Netam, Ankit Nandi and Domendra Yadav, reported The Indian Express.

On January 2, a mob vandalised a church after a group of Adivasis held a protest against alleged illegal religious conversions in the Edka village of Narayanpur. The demonstration took place a day after a clash between two groups of Adivasis had left eight persons injured.

During Monday’s attack, police personnel were also injured. District Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar was among the police officials who were attacked.

On Tuesday, the police registered three first information reports against unidentified persons for rioting, assaulting police personnel, and vandalising the church. Police have also registered an FIR on the clash between two Adivasi groups at Gorra village under Edka police station limits on January 1, Inspector General Sundarraj P told PTI.

The FIRs have been registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), reported PTI.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the police stopped two BJP MPs Santosh Pandey and Mohan Mandavi and MLA Shivratan Sharma from entering Narayanpur, citing security reasons.

“The Congress government has been behaving like dictator and murdering democracy,” BJP’s Chhattisgarh unit chief spokesperson Ajay Chandrakar told PTI. “Stopping our leaders from going to Narayanpur clearly indicates that those who are involved in religious conversions have protection of Congress.”