Kolkata: Five persons have been detained in connection with the gang-rape of a 72-year-old nun at a school-cum-convent in West Bengal’s Ranaghat in the early hours of Saturday.

Yesterday, the police released CCTV footage of four dacoits who allegedly sexually assaulted the nun. The four were part of a gang of six men who broke into the Convent of Jesus and Mary, gagged the lone security guard on duty and then allegedly sexually assaulted the nun around 4 am, the police said. The men also allegedly ransacked the church and fled with Rs. 8-9 lakh. The police had announced a reward of Rs. 1 lakh for any information leading to their arrest.

Sources in the government today said the police was close to solving the case, adding that it was probing several angles including the possible role of insiders in the incident.

Condemning the “horrific” crime, the Mamata Banerjee government yesterday ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and promised “swift, strongest action” against those involved.

In a statement issued by her Trinamool government, the Chief Minister also said that “religious politics was being practised in the name of ghar wapasi” and that “religious fanaticism is on the rise”. Sources in the Bengal government today said the ‘ghar wapasi’ remark was made in the larger context of intolerance and hate crimes.

The issue of ghar wapasi – a campaign by hardliner Hindu groups to convert Christians and Muslims to Hinduism – has seen the Narendra Modi government come under fierce attack from the Opposition in the last few months. Opponents say that since coming to office, Mr Modi has failed to rein in affiliate groups of his party, the BJP, from suggesting that the government will follow a Hindu agenda. The allegations have been further exacerbated by a series of recent attacks on Christian institutions and churches in Delhi and a few other places.