Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday termed as "Hindutva vigilantism" the alleged attack on Catholic priests and nuns in Odisha's Jaleswar on false charges of religious conversion.

In a post on social media platform X, Vijayan alleged that Sangh Parivar "goons" were behind the alleged attack on the priests and nuns and that it reflected the "ongoing communal witch-hunt" against Christians in the country.

"Reports of an assault on Keralite Catholic priests and nuns by Sangh Parivar goons in Jaleswar, Odisha, on false charges of religious conversion, reflect the ongoing communal witch-hunt against Christians in the country, exemplified by the arrest of nuns in Chhattisgarh weeks ago.

"Such Hindutva vigilantism, enabled by the regime’s impunity, must be unitedly resisted by secular and democratic forces," he said on X.

On Wednesday, vehicles carrying a group of Christian nuns and priests were stopped on a road by locals in Odisha's Balasore district on the suspicion of conducting forced conversion.