According to police, four youths in an inebriated state forcibly entered the church through a side gate around midnight and demanded to sleep inside.

When the caretaker of the church objected, there was an altercation between them, following which the youths allegedly threw stones at the church premises. They also attacked the caretaker and bit off his ear. The victim was rushed to the hospital where he received three stitches, hospital sources said.

On receiving a telephone call from the church authorities, police reached the spot and arrested three of them, while the fourth escaped. Police described the incident as an isolated case and said that the antecedents of the youths were being verified.

Meanwhile, the policehave registered a case under Section 447 (criminal trespass), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by weapons), 294 (obscene acts and songs), 295 (injuring or defiling places of worship), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code IPC, based on the complaint of S K Sen, secretary of Balasore Baptist Church.

Sen in a press release alleged that the youth had threatened to set the church on fire. Expressing concern over the incident, Sen urged the district authorities to ensure protection for the community.

Police said the arrested youths belonged to Berhampur, Bhadrak and Jagatsinghpur. Two of them were staying in a lodge, a furlong away from the church, while the other one was searching for accommodation. The identity of the fourth person was not known.

When contacted Home Secretary Sanjeev Hota said that there are no religious overtones in the incident. Police investigation is on and the Superintendent of Police has been asked to takeall measures to prevent any such untoward incident.