The Malad police are on the lookout for an unidentified man who vandalised the glass cover of a grotto of Mother Mary opposite Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Malad's Orlem, early on Thursday morning.
An FIR has been registered against the unidentified offender, who threw a stone and shattered the glass cover of the century-old grotto, under Section 95A of the Indian Criminal Code (deliberate and malicious conduct, intended to incite religious emotions of any class).
Members of the Catholic community who are observing lent have been shocked by the incident. This is the second such incident in recent months following the vandalisation of St Michael's Church graveyard at Mahim last month.
A peaceful protest march was held on Friday in which more than 800 devotees participated. The protesters condemned the incident and demanded that no such incident should happen again.
Vandal was captured on CCTV
An officer of Malad police station said that the vandal was captured on a CCTV camera installed near the spot. However, the footage is not very clear, due to which it is difficult to identify and trace the culprit, he said.
He added that after reviewing hundreds of CCTV recordings the cops found out that the culprit approached the church on foot from Meeth Chowki Junction on Link Road, and after throwing stones, he walked towards Valnai Colony.
