Mass religious conversion case: Cleric Umar Gautam, 11 others get life; 4 more to serve 10 years in jail
Maulana Umar Gautam and 11 others received life sentences for over 1,000 illegal religious conversions; four others got 10 years each.
Maulana Umar Gautam and 11 others convicted for carrying out over 1,000 illegal religious conversions were on Wednesday awarded life sentences by a special court that heard cases of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) here, senior prosecution officials confirmed. Four others also convicted by the Lucknow court on Tuesday were each awarded 10 years of prison sentence.
Prosecution counsel MK Singh said key accused Umar Gautam, Arshan Mustafa alias Bhupriya Bando, Adam alias Prasad Rameshwaram Kovere, Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi, Kaushar Alam, Faraz Babullah Shah, Irfan Sheikh, Salahuddin Zainuddin Sheikh, Dheeraj Govind, Mohd Kaleem Siddiqui, Mohd Salim, Sarfaraz Ali Jafari and Abdullah Umar were awarded life sentences after their conviction under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 417 for cheating, 153-a for promoting disharmony, enmity or feelings of hatred between people on religious grounds, 153-b for making or publishing statements that promote disharmony on religious grounds, 295A for the deliberate and malicious acts that are intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting a religion or religious beliefs, 121 for conspiring to overawe, by means of criminal force, the central government or any state government, 123 for concealing facts with intent to facilitate design to wage war, and also under sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.
He further said four other convicts--Rahul Bola, Abdul Mannan alias Munnu Yadav and Mohd Atif alias Kunal Ashok Choudhary and Mohd Salim--were awarded 10 years of imprisonment as they were not found guilty under IPC sections 121 for conspiring to overawe, by means of criminal force, the central government or any state government and 123 for concealing facts with intent to facilitate design to wage war.
The counsel said the sentences were pronounced by the NIA/ATS court judge, Vivekanand Saran Tripathi, after arguments over the quantum of punishments. He said all 16 convicts were brought to the court from the Lucknow district jail around 12.30 pm Wednesday while the quantum of punishment was pronounced around 4.45 pm. He said all convicts were sent to jail in judicial custody after pronouncement of the quantum of punishments.
He said the court mentioned that the time spent in jail by the convicts would be included in their punishment.
Besides, the court stated that compensation of ₹2 lakh each should be given to the victims of religious conversions.
The prosecution counsel noted that the ATS had charge-sheeted 17 people in the case but the legal proceedings against one of the accused, Idris Qureshi, was stayed by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court after which his file was separated, and the matter against him was still pending.
He said the ATS had busted the racket after arresting Umar Gautam, the chairman of Islamic Da’wah Centre operated from Delhi’s Batla House, along with Mufti Kazi Jahangir Kasmi, an employee of the centre, on June 20, 2021. He said 15 others, including Umar Gautam’s son Abdullah Umar, were arrested during further investigation.
Notably, the racket, which involved the conversion of specially-abled children and other vulnerable groups to Islam, was allegedly funded by international organisations, including Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. According to ATS, over 1,000 people had been illegally converted in two years before the racket was busted in June 2021.
Sharing further details, a senior ATS official said Umar Gautam targetted vulnerable people by narrating them how he chose to embrace Islam from Hinduism’s Thakur caste. He said Gautam used to highlight the caste discrimination in the religion to influence his targets. The official said the convicts gave people promises of jobs if they converted.
Commenting on the convictions, director general of police (DGP) Prashant Kumar said, “The decision by the Hon’ble Special Court (ATS/NIA) in Lucknow today affirms the decisive action and exceptional investigation conducted by the UP ATS against illegal conversions and disruptive elements. The conviction of 16 members of the illegal conversion syndicate sends a clear message that there is no room for anti-social and anti-national activities in Uttar Pradesh... Following the uncovering of this nationwide syndicate and the arrest of those involved, some religious extremists and anti-national elements had cast doubts on the professionalism and transparency of UP Police. The verdict by the Hon’ble Court provides a strong and definitive answer to them.”