Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Fire at venue of religious meeting

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A fire broke out on the stage erected for a three-day religious meeting at the Chandrasekharan Nair Police Stadium here early on Wednesday.

The Museum police have registered a case. The organisers of the meeting suspect it to be a case of arson. The curtains and a portion of the tarpaulin roofing were burnt.

Bernard Blessing, a Ghana-based evangelist, was scheduled to speak for the second day at the venue on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh and Hindu Aikya Vedi workers had staged a protest outside the stadium demanding that Mr. Blessing refrain from activities that violated the norms of the visa issued to him by the Government of India. The organisers suspect that some protesters may have sneaked into the stadium and triggered the fire early Wednesday. Experts from the Forensic Sciences Laboratory would ascertain whether the fire was accidental or a case of arson.

City Police Commissioner M.R. Ajith Kumar on Tuesday had served notice on Mr. Blessing asking him to refrain from activities that constituted violation of the norms of the visa. Mr. Blessing was here to attend a religious meeting titled ‘Power Conference.’ The meeting is organised by Harvest Television and Productions and Divine Blessing Empower 09.

On Monday, the Commissioner had served a notice on the organisers asking them to clarify with the Union Ministry of External Affairs whether Mr. Blessing possessed the “Missionary Visa” to address such religious congregations. The Commissioner said in his notice to Mr. Blessing on Tuesday that the organisers were not able to produce any document showing that he possessed the visa clearance to address religious meetings.

He warned Mr. Blessing that the police would register a case against him under Section 14 of the Foreigners’ Registration Act if he was found to have violated visa norms.

The Commissioner is also the District Foreigners’ Registration Officer. The police served the notice on Mr. Bernard in his room at Mascot Hotel late on Tuesday.

Mr. Blessing is learnt to have left the city for Kochi after receiving the notice. The police said he would fly from Kochi to Mumbai from where he would leave the country.

The police are of the opinion that the caretaker of the police stadium, currently an Assistant Commandant of the Armed Reserve Police, should seek the clearance of the Commissioner before hiring it out for private functions.

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