May 10, 2010 (IANS)--The feud between two factions of a Kerala-based Orthodox Church took a new turn after Central Bureau of Investigation charged a priest the prime accused in the murder of an office-bearer of a rival church faction.

Father Varghese Thekkekara of a Jacobite Syrian Church in Ernakulam is accused of conspiring to murder T. M .Varghese alias Malankara Varghese, a timber merchant in 2002.

The member of Malankara Orthodox Church’s managing committee was hacked to death by a gang in a public road near Perumbavoor.

Though the murder was initially described as a result of business rivalry, his relatives suspected involvement of a rival Church faction.

The case became intense on Sunday with Varghese’s widow announcing her decision to seek CBI help to unravel the conspiracy saying “higher ups” in the Church may be involved in her husband’s murder.

“I am considering approaching the court to request the CBI to thoroughly probe the case because this cannot be just a conspiracy of one priest,” Saramma Varghese, wife of Malankara Orthodox Church priest Malankara Varghese found dead in December 2002, told a TV channel here.

“This (murder) could not have taken place without the help of higher ups, may be even a bishop. So far, we are happy with the CBI probe but we want the entire conspiracy to come out,” she said.

Thekekara, manager of the Angamali diocese of the Syrian Jacobite church, was Friday named the first accused in the murder. The priest is absconding.

A five-year probe by the state police’s crime branch yielded nothing conclusive till CBI took over the probe in September 2007.

Breakthrough came last month, when the CBI arrested Joy Varghese who confessed to have hired criminals to commit the murder for a large sum of money.

The century-old feud between the two churches has always been a bother for successive governments in the state and on several occasions, rivalry between the followers have ended in brawls.

Incidentally, the two churches have the support of the top Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) politicians.

While leader of opposition Oommen Chandy belongs to the Orthodox faction, UDF convenor P.P. Thankachen and Kerala Congress (Jacob) chief T.M. Jacob belong to the Jacobite faction.