Fr. Arul Saiju and Fr Stanley Baburaj along with 10 believers were arrested on the 9th December in Nagarcoil.

The Makankara Catholic Church was in existence for the last 20 years at the Beach Road, Nagarcoil. The Tamil Nadu local administration led by the Thahasildar Mr Cruz and DSP Mr Bhaskaran supervised the demolition of the church , which was under renovation.
Fr. Arul Saiju and Fr Stanley Baburaj along with 10 believers produced the original title deeds to the officials to establish their ownership. Instead of listening to them and verifying the documents, they brutally attacked them and took them to the local police station alleging that they had obstructed civil servants from discharging their responsibility.
Fr. Arul Saiju, Fr Stanley Baburaj and the 10 believers are lodged in the sub jail.

The Christian Community in Tamil Nadu is deeply disturbed by the desecration of the church and assault and detention of priests and believers. Various leaders of Christian Community are planning to meet the district collector for expressing their anguish over the attack on Christian community in Tamil Nadu.

Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) is in contact with the Tamil Nadu Government to pursue the matter with the Chief Minister Smt.Jayalalitha. It is ironic that these incidents are happening in spite of the promise of protection to Christian community given by the Chief Minister before the election a few months back