A large number of policemen today swooped down on a protest in Delhi against attacks on churches, and dragged activists, including priests, into buses.
The protest outside the Sacred Heart cathedral in the heart of the city was "unlawful", said the police, who were seen pulling women and even children, leaving bags and shoes scattered on the road.
Father Dominic Emanuel, the spokesperson of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, was also forced into a bus.
An elderly woman activist, who lay on the road, was picked up by four policewomen and bundled into a bus.
"The people are being detained. They have no permission to protest on the road. They can't just march to the home minister's residence. We have to protect the residence of VIPs," said senior police officer Mukesh Kumar Meena. He admitted there were no prohibitory orders in place.
Christian groups had organized a silent march to highlight what they called lack of serious action in recent attacks on churches. They said they would march to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's residence.
In the latest incident earlier this week, the St Alphonsa's Church in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj was vandalised. The police called it robbery.
A church in west Delhi's Vikaspuri was vandalized last month. The police said three men caught on camera and arrested were drunk and attacked the church on a dare.
Gunmen Attack Churches, Synagogues In Russia; Cops, Priest Among 15 Killed "You're My Son": Sydney Priest Who Was Stabbed Forgives Attacker 1 Dead In Armed Attack On Italian Church In Istanbul Windows Computers Leading To 'Blue Screen Of Death' Due To This Error Explained: What Is Causing The Dreaded 'Blue Screen Of Death' On Windows? Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down "Macrohard >> Microsoft": Elon Musk Takes A Dig At Microsoft Amid Outage 10 Health Benefits Of Tree Tea Oil Riots Break Out In London, Bus Set On Fire, Police Car Flipped Over Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.