On Tuesday, Pastor Abraham Topno was kidnapped by a group of unidentified gunmen in Eastern India near the Ranchi District, Jharkhand state. He was later found murdered, his body mutilated, and his head completely severed from his body.
The pastor was riding in a public carrier back to his home in the village of Kubasal when he and his driver were attacked by a group of unknown assailants who pulled the minister from the vehicle and began to beat him, UCA News reports. After accusing him of being a police informant, they shot and beheaded Topno.
Aman Christochit Herenz, the nephew of the pastor, spoke to Morning Star News about the brutal killing. Citing the information given to him, he explained that Pastor Topno and the driver’s face were covered. The kidnappers identified themselves as a group of radical Maoists and began shouting, “Death to police spy!” They allowed the driver to flee. He then reported the crime to his family,
“His ears were covered along with his face, so he could not make out their conversation,” Herenz said. “The Maoists then slit the neck of my uncle and chopped off his head from his body and set the vehicle on fire while not interacting with the driver at all.”
He continued, describing his actions during the night. “I know it is a Maoist area and, sensing trouble, I returned home, not knowing that it was the same vehicle that my uncle was riding that was in flames, and my uncle lying dead beside it.”
He emphatically denies that Topno was a police informer.
Though the Maoists have taken responsibility for the brutal killing, Herenz suspects that radical Hindus could also be involved, although there is no evidence to confirm that at this time.
Topno was a minister who had served the area for over 20 years at the Pentecostal Church of God. He leaves behind a widow, Huldah Hareing Topno, to whom he had been married for 15 years.