Mumbai | Acting on a Mumbai court's direction, police have registered an FIR against five persons, including two priests of the iconic Mount Mary Church in Bandra, for allegedly stealing construction materials from an open plot in March 2025, an official said on Wednesday.

According to the Bandra police station official, the FIR was registered on January 19 against the two priests and three security guards employed at the church.

The complainant in the case is local resident Robbinson Gonsalves, who owns an ancestral plot near the church.

During probe, police found that Gonsalves, who is a fisherman and also engaged in the construction business, had kept materials such as an iron gate, iron sheets and cement sheets on his open plot.

On the day of the incident, a worker at the site informed him that all construction materials had been loaded into a tempo with the alleged involvement of the two priests and the three security guards, they said.

Gonsalves approached the local police, but when his complaint was not registered, he moved a court in Bandra. Acting on his complaint, the court directed the police to register an FIR against all five persons named by him.

Following the order, police registered the case against the accused under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections, including 303 (theft), 329 (criminal trespass) and 351 (criminal intimidation).

Further investigation was underway, the official added.