India, Oct. 13 -- A prominent Chinese underground church founder, along with more than 20 other members of the group, have been detained over the weekend during overnight raids in various cities.

The list includes several pastors and Zion Church founder Jin Mingri, who was arrested in the early hours of Saturday after 10 officers searched his home, US-based non-profit ChinaAid said as quoted by BBC.

According to reports, the Chinese Communist Party tightly controls religion in the country. It promotes atheism.

It is still not clear whether the detained people have been formally charged.

"Such systematic persecution is not only an affront to the Church of God but also a public challenge to the international community," Zion Church said...