Kozhikode (Kerala), March 7 A fire broke out in a building within the St. Patrick's Church complex here on Saturday morning, causing damage worth approximately Rs 8 lakh, police said.
The incident occurred in the early hours, and according to CCTV footage, an unidentified man set fire to the building, which was being used as a study room by the church, they said.
A car parked nearby, belonging to a priest of the church, was completely destroyed in the fire, and a significant amount of reading material in the study room was also destroyed, it said.
An officer from the Chemmangad police station said that the man seen in the CCTV footage was exhibiting signs of mental instability, but he has not yet been identified.
The officer said that a case has been registered under sections 332 (trespassing), 324 (causing mischief), and 326 (causing hurt, mischief by means of fire or explosive substance) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and a search is underway for the suspect.
After the incident, the current Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calicut, Varghese Chakkalaka, visited the site and called for a thorough police investigation into the incident.