Police in an Indian state controlled by a radical Hindu nationalist party arrested four people for handing out copies of the Bible to town residents.
The arrests May 13 in Rajnagar, in the northeastern state of Orissa, came amid rising tensions in the area after the alleged conversion of 300 Hindu families to Christianity, according to AsiaNews, a Catholic service.
Orissa passed a controversial Freedom of Religion Act that requires all would-be converts to first obtain authorization from district authorities.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, the armed wing of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, had threatened protest if the police failed to act against "those responsible for violating the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act."
The RSS has been blamed for numerous attacks against Christians and other minority religious groups since the party rose in power nationally in the late 1990s.
The chief officer at the Rajnagar police station, Sistikantha Kanungo, said "the area is already tense, and open distribution of the Bible at such a time could add fuel to the fire. That is why we arrested the four young men and detained them."
Arrested were Ashok Namalpuri, 28; Gorachand Pal, 22; Siddheswar Nayak, 29; and Bimal Wilson, 22.
AsiaNews said they had come to Rajnagar in January and were immediately accused of proselytizing and trying to influence school children because they taught at two primary schools for free.
The local superintendent of police said an inquiry is under way into the alleged conversions, and report will be released within a week.