Pastor and aides desecrate Hindu temples to incite locals against new rival Church

Andhra Pradesh Police have uncovered a meticulously planned conspiracy involving a local pastor and his associates, who desecrated Hindu temples in Jalumuru Mandal, Srikakulam district, in a desperate bid to settle intra-church rivalries and safeguard their tith income streams.

The desecration took place during the intervening night of March 29-30, in Yelamanchili village, where Bible verses and Christian symbols such as the Cross were brazenly spray-painted on the outer walls of revered temples — including the Sri Yandala Kameswara Swamy Devasthanam, the Asirithalli Temple, and multiple Anjaneya Swamy shrines.

The objective is to incite local Hindus into opposing a new church planned in the area. By intentionally offending Hindu sentiments, the accused hoped villagers would object to new Christian structures, forcing believers to return to the already established church controlled by the Pastor John Peter of nearby Budithi village.

After decoding the case with rigorous investigation carried by nine specialised teams, Superintendent of Police KV Maheshwar Reddy detailed the case to media on April 15. He said they used the combination of CCTV analysis, digital trail mapping, technical surveillance, and local inputs, then zeroed in on the three primary accused: Pastor John Peter of Budithi village, bike painter Mamidi Ajay, and Pagoti Eswar Rao.

It was revealed that Chokkapu Shankara Rao, who has been working as a pastor in Yelamanchili, had temporarily set up a church and has been staying there for the past two years. Recently, a person purchased 30 cents of land for the permanent construction of a church. Fearing that if a new church was built there, believers would no longer come to the Budithi church nearby, Pastor John Peter, who provides services there, conspired with the other two and committed this act. He devised this plan thinking that the villagers of Yelamanchili would suspect Shankara Rao and drive him out of the village.

SP KV Maheshwar Reddy confirmed that the accused gathered on the night of 29 March and systematically defaced temple walls with Christian slogans and symbols before slipping away unnoticed. Police later recovered spray paint cans from Ajay’s residence. Notably, Pastor John Peter’s personal diary contained references that matched the desecration.

Eswar Rao, who usually kept his mobile’s Google Timeline active, had deliberately disabled it on the night of the incident, arousing suspicion.

CCTV footage from multiple temple sites confirmed their “This is not just a matter of faith anymore,” said Santhosh, who is tracking the case, while speaking to Organiser. “In Andhra Pradesh, Christian religious conversion has become a multi-crore business. Each church operates like a tax-free enterprise, thriving without regulation or accountability — neither for funds nor for church properties. Additionally, political patronage and the strategic misuse of the victim card narrative give them a free pass.”

The case reflects a worrying trend — where Christian evangelism, often cloaked under the guise of service to humanity, now operates as an aggressive business model in Andhra Pradesh. Independent ministries exploit the secular tolerance of Hindus, running churches as de facto enterprises. Their Christian converts and followers are mobilised not merely for religious events but also for political leverage, access to welfare schemes, and minority-specific privileges — all while conveniently evading scrutiny.

Recently, a pastor and well-known TV evangelist, Praveen Pagadala, died in a tragic drink-driving incident. Christian groups attempted to frame it as a targeted murder by Hindu organisations — a narrative swiftly dismantled by the Andhra Pradesh Police. Within a month, police analysed hundreds of CCTV clips and meticulously traced every movement of the pastor, from the beginning of his journey to his unfortunate death, exposing the religious angle as entirely fabricated.

The pastor’s death in a drink-driving case has been a major embarrassment for the Christian community, which frequently claims to uphold high moral standards. As the government begins serving notices related to the false narratives around his death — and with the Srikakulam temple desecration case unmasking deeper conspiracies — the darker side of church interests in Andhra Pradesh is now coming to light.