Mangaluru: Expressing concern over a recent incident of a priest in Bantwal taluk allegedly assaulting a senior couple, the Diocese of Mangalore has stated in a press release that the priest would be removed from the religious ministry of the church immediately.

The CCTV footage of Fr. Nelson Olivera, Parish priest of the Christ The King Church at Periyalthadka village of Manila near Vitla, Bantwal taluk, has gone viral on social media. The video clip shows the priest, who had reportedly visited the household for blessings on Thursday, arguing with the senior couple, Gregory and Philomena, and also assaulting them. The senior couple and the priest are learned to have developed a difference of opinion on the occasion and, as the couple reportedly told the priest not to visit them again, the matter aggravated into an argument and a physical assault of the couple by the priest.

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While no case has been registered on the matter yet, the Diocese of Mangalore has said in its press release that, in immediate response to the incident, Fr. Olivera would be removed from the religious ministry at the Christ The King Church.

Fr. JB Saldanha and Ronald Castelino, who are the Diocese public relation officers, have said in the press release that the Diocese would fully cooperate with the law enforcing authorities. They added that, apart from the government enquiry, the Diocese itself would undertake canonical enquiries on the incident to establish the truth to take adequate future action in a just and fair manner.

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Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.