From our correspondent

In yet another shocking incident, a preacher belonging to CSI church has been killed and his body disposed of in Nizamabad of Andhra Pradesh.

A young man reportedly approached Prem Kumar (aged 67), a voluntary worker of CSI Church in Nizamabad around 8 a.m. on 8th June 2006 with a request to hold a prayer service in his village Rampur Thanda under Kotagiri Mandal. Prem kumar readily obliged and went along with him.

However before leaving, he asked his son Sunil to keep in touch him every 30 minutes.

At around 11 am when his son tried to contact him, the phone was found to be switched off. Since there was no contact till the evening, the family members began searching for the pastor at every known place. Finally they found him brutally murdered in the forest near Rampur Thanda.

Prem Kumar was allegedly killed with boulders and stones. His head was crushed beyond recognition. The police soon arrived on the scene and sent the body for post-mortem. Sunil said his father has no enmity with anyone in the area. He said he strongly suspected the hand of Hindu fundamentalists in the area. "I can recognize the person who took my father away," he said.

It may be recalled that Pastor Aaron was brutally assaulted by Hindu fundamentalists in full public view in March 2006. All India Christian Council (aicc) condemned the brutal killing of the pastor and sought immediate action from the government. The Christian Council has already deputed a high level team to enquire into the incident.