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Another religious conversion racket: UP police bust inter-state nexus, arrest 10 people from six states
The nexus was exposed during the Agra police operation which began with the registration of a missing case for two sisters, aged 33 and 18, in March earlier this year
The state police arrested 10 individuals from six states for their alleged involvement in illegal religious conversions, said senior police officials, while addressing a press conference at the police headquarters, in Lucknow, on Saturday.
A local court in Agra has granted 10 days’ police custody remand of all 10 accused arrested in the religious conversion racket.
Police officials said that the arrested individuals were allegedly using tactics such as ‘love jihad’ and other methods to influence and convert young girls.
Officials said this exposé was done under a new mission called ‘Asmita’ (identity) launched by the UP police. They said the nexus came to light during the Agra police’s operation which began with the registration of a missing persons case for two sisters, aged 33 and 18, in March earlier this year.
Director general of police (DGP), Rajeev Krishna, said that those arrested were identified as Ayesha alias SB Krishna from Goa, Mustafa alias Manoj from Delhi, Abur Rehman from Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Ali Hasan alias Shekhar Roy and Osama from Kolkata (West Bengal), three Jaipur residents Mohammad Ali, Junaid Qureshi and Mohammad Ali and two UP residents Rahman Qureshi from Agra and Abu Talib from Muzaffarnagar.
The DGP said that the investigation uncovered evidence of the use of love jihad and foreign funding for religious conversions and radicalisation, which is a signature style of Islamic State (IS). He said the arrested individuals played different roles within the network, including receiving and channeling funds, providing legal advice, supplying new phones and SIM cards, entrapping victims through love jihad, and facilitating religious conversions.
Sharing further details, additional director general (ADG), law & order, Amitabh Yash, said that the investigation revealed that the arrested individuals were part of a larger network involved in radicalisation and love jihad, with funding from Canada and the USA. He said preliminary investigations suggest possible links between this group and organisations such as banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and Pakistani terrorist organisations. He said the intensity of the radicalisation of the victim could be gauged from the fact that the victim has a profile picture of a girl holding an AK-47 assault rifle.
Agra commissioner of police, Deepak Kumar, said the investigation led to the discovery of a network of individuals involved in radicalisation and love jihad, receiving funding from abroad. He said the police obtained non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against seven accused individuals and dispatched 11 teams to various states, including West Bengal, Goa, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. He said the Agra police as well as the STF and ATS, are working in coordination with other state police forces and central agencies to further investigate and dismantle this network spread in multiple states.
Recently, the UP STF and ATS uncovered another syndicate led by Jalaluddin Shah alias Chhangur Baba, involved in illegal religious conversions, and arrested the named accused. This operation targets individuals involved in serious crimes such as radicalisation, and national security breaches through love jihad, illegal conversions, dark web, and other networks.
