Police have arrested nine people for allegedly attempting to convert residents of a village to Christianity in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr, police said on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off that some people were allegedly trying to convert residents in the Veerkheda village under Sikandrabad police station limits on Sunday, the police reached the spot and arrested nine accused, they said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Pappan, Ravi, Pradeep, Sunder and Ashu from the Bulandshahr district; Deepak from Gautam Buddh Nagar; Krishna from Faridabad; and Rajendra and Neelam from the Ghaziabad district, police said.
During interrogation, the accused admitted that they travelled across neighbouring districts to propagate Christianity and lure locals to convert by offering them money, the police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Shankar Prasad said the police allegedly recovered cash, copies of the Bible, prayer pamphlets, conversion certificates and nine mobile phones of different companies from the possession of the accused.
Initial questioning revealed that the group had been active in Bulandshahr as well as adjoining districts, attempting to convert people to Christianity by inducements, Prasad said.