This is an ANS item and you may already have
recieved it - but there will be some communities that rely on 'austraLasia' for
their news, so I am repeating it here. JBF
India - Three
Salesians shot dead in Imphal
(ANS Rome, 15th May
2001) - Two priests and a seminarian were shot dead by militant groups at
Imphal, a town in North East India. The victimes were Salesians of Don Bosco -
members of a Catholic religious order that has as many as 8 schools in the
area.
At about 8.p.m., local time, men armed with guns entered the Salesian
Novitiate at Imphal and killed the Novice Master Fr. Raphael Paliakara and two
others Fr. Andreas Kindo and a young cleric, Bro. Shinu Joseph.
Fr. Thomas Mulayinkal, the Salesian Provincial in charge of
the area, said that a sense of fear has prevailed over the region for a long
time due to the demand for money made by various underground groups. In December
last year a diocesan priest who was the principal of a school was shot dead and
in February this year another escaped an attempt on his life. Owing to this, Fr.
Thomas states that he had to close down all the schools for over a month and had
to recall all the principals from their
posts
