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BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, June 23, 2004: Police were deployed in an Orissa village following communal tension after two men allegedly threw eggs at the idol of Lord Jagannath. The two youths allegedly threw the eggs at a religious procession carrying an icon of Lord Jagannath rolling down a street in Kosamuguda village in Nabrangpur district, 510 km from here, last week. The men, both said to be Christians, were identified as Balachand Harijan, 20, and Kusia Harijan, 19. Both were outsiders to Kosamuguda and lived in neighboring villages, police said. Villagers complained and the two men were arrested but then released after they apologized. The matter however escalated when activists of Hindu organizations intervened and demanded that a criminal case be registered against them. Accordingly, they were rearrested, said Ashok Sahu, president of the Hindu Jagran Sammukhya (HJS), which is affiliated to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). A district police official added that the two had been arrested and presented before a local court. Kosamuguda village has a population of about 500 tribal people, all of whom are Hindus. Local Christian groups have denied that they have anything to do with the incident.

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