Priest Says Bhopal Archbishop Tried to Poison Him over Threat to Expose Sex Scandal

By Milind Ghatwai
Indian Express
February 16, 2013

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/priest-says-archbishop-tried-to-poison-him/1075011/

A priest has accused the archbishop of Bhopal of trying to poison him either to make him mentally unstable or to kill him because he threatened to expose an alleged sex scandal and financial irregularities in the archdiocese.

A magisterial court has registered a case against archbishop Leo Cornelio and two other Catholic Church leaders on a private complaint from Fr Anand Muttungal, the former public relations officer of Madhya Pradesh. CJFM Alok Mishra has ordered that Cornelio be produced before him on March 1. The court will weigh evidence before deciding to order a police probe. If convicted, the accused could face up to 10 years in jail.

Muttungal told The Indian Express he was forced to approach the court because the local police station refused to take note of his complaint. He also submitted audio and video recordings. The archbishop said as leader of the Catholic Church he did consult a psychiatrist to treat Muttungal as he had received complaints against his behaviour.