Agra court rejects bail plea of main accused in alleged conversion case

In all eight people, including three women, were arrested in Agra for allegedly operating a religious conversion network that was converting Hindus to Christianity.

The District and Session Judge at Agra, Sanjay Kumar Malik, dismissed the bail application of the main accused arrested by Agra police in a case involving alleged conversion to Christianity. The accused was booked under sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, in a case registered at Shahganj police station, Agra.

Rajkumar Lalwani, identified as the leader, was arrested by police on September 2 following a complaint from a resident who alleged that the group attempted to trap his wife into converting from Hinduism to Christianity. (FOR REPRESENTATION)

In all eight people, including three women, were arrested in Agra for allegedly operating a religious conversion network that was converting Hindus to Christianity. Rajkumar Lalwani, identified as the leader, was arrested by police on September 2 following a complaint from a resident who alleged that the group attempted to trap his wife into converting from Hinduism to Christianity.

Police took action and busted the network, arresting its leader Rajkumar Lalwani. Four years ago, he had gone to Mumbai, converted from Hinduism to Christianity without changing his name, and then started working to convert others, said DCP Agra City Sonam Kumar.

A case was registered under The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act of 2021 which prohibits conversion from one religion to another religion by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement.

The son of the accused submitted an affidavit in support of bail application before the Court of District and Session Judge at Agra, claiming that his father was not involved in any conversion activities and was falsely implicated.

The case registered stated that a significant amount of Christian literature was recovered from the accused’s house. Additionally, the mobiles of the accused and his associates revealed similar material supporting the allegations of conversion. There was also evidence of monetary transactions linked to the racket.

Those involved were accused of deceiving Hindus by convincing them that singing songs of Christ would heal them and solve their problems. They also created a YouTube channel and used religious literature to further their conversion goals, according to Kumar.

The Court noted that the charges were serious and investigations were ongoing, finding the reasons presented for bail inadequate.