Three Indian pastors were attacked by a mob and then arrested for attempting to convert Hindus, reports UCA News.

Stephan Rajkumar, Hari Lal and Anil Kumar were arrested in Madhya Pradesh state on 3 Oct. after showing a film about Jesus in the town of Majhgawan.

They were charged with forcible conversion, hurting religious sentiments and criminal intimidation, after a Hindu alleged that he was offered 5,000 rupees ($77) to convert.

A colleague of the men, Ritesh James, denied the claim, saying “their arrest was illegal and motivated to target Christians”.

“We are being persecuted for nothing,” he added.

UCAN reports that there have been at least 100 attacks on Christians in Madhya Pradesh since the BJP came to power in the state in 2003, and more than 20 of those occurred in the past six months. Christians comprise just 0.3 per cent of the state’s population.