Violence Erupts in Baptist Church Leadership Dispute in Khanapur, Narsingi

A leadership and property dispute between two factions of the Baptist Church at Khanapur in Narsingi turned violent on Saturday, September 19, with the church’s current administration accusing a former president and 21 others of forcing their way onto the premises twice in one day, first to put up banners staking a claim to the property, and later that night to vandalise CCTV cameras, break down office doors and smash furniture. The Narsingi police, under the Cyberabad police commissionerate, on Sunday registered a case against Rameshwaram Narsimha and 21 others under Sections 329(4), 324(2) and 351(2) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), provisions relating to criminal trespass, mischief causing property damage, and criminal intimidation with common intention. According to the First Information Report (FIR), church president P Krishna, 43, a Khanapur resident, told police that Narsimha and others entered the church premises on the afternoon of September 5 without the committee’s knowledge and put up society banners over the property. When committee members learnt of this, they rushed to the spot and removed the banners. That night, around 9:30 pm, the same group “came again with huge force” and forcibly re-entered the premises, breaking CCTV cameras, breaking down the doors of the executive committee office, destroying furniture and smashing the foundation stone. When confronted, the accused allegedly behaved in a “high-handed, aggressive manner” and threatened committee members with “dire consequences.” The Baptist Church at Khanapur is a branch of the Baptist Church of Hyderabad, comprising a church hall, an executive office room, a pastor’s house and open land measuring 0.26 acres in Survey No. 220 at Khanapur village, Gandipet mandal, acquired through a registered sale deed dated September 5, 1991, according to the complaint. Narsimha, who headed the church for about two decades before Krishna was elected president two years ago, was suspended from the church for a year from May 12, 2026, for allegedly violating its rules and bylaws. Church officials said the dispute dates back to 2018, when Narsimha allegedly had a parallel society registered for the Khanapur church without the knowledge of the Baptist Church of Hyderabad, naming himself president along with ten others. The current administration claims this was an attempt to stake a claim over what it describes as valuable church land. Church officials said they have separately moved a court over the alleged unauthorised registration. The case has been registered, and the investigation has been taken up by sub-inspector A Nagendra Babu of Narsingi Police Station.