The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has stepped into the ongoing investigation against Jalaluddin Shah alias Chhangur Baba, who is accused of masterminding a large-scale religious conversion racket.
The preliminary findings by the probe agency point to a foreign funding of about ₹106 crore, mainly from the Middle East and illegal assets across states.
Initial inputs by the ED indicate that Baba and his associates controlled around 40 bank accounts, allegedly used to receive hawala transactions and funds from Middle Eastern countries.
On Wednesday, the ED’s Lucknow zonal office registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on an FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.
According to official sources cited by the news agency, ED is preparing to seek custodial remand of Changur Baba, whose real name is Karimulla Shah, to question him on alleged financial irregularities and foreign funding.
Who is Changur Baba?
The 78-year-old, who is popularly known as Changur Baba started as a taweez and gemstone seller travelling between villages on a bicycle. By 2015, he had reinvented himself as ‘Peer Baba’ or ‘Hazrat Baba Jalaluddin’, claiming to be a Sufi preacher.
{{/usCountry}}The 78-year-old, who is popularly known as Changur Baba started as a taweez and gemstone seller travelling between villages on a bicycle. By 2015, he had reinvented himself as ‘Peer Baba’ or ‘Hazrat Baba Jalaluddin’, claiming to be a Sufi preacher.
{{/usCountry}}A resident of Rehra Ma village in Balrampur, he used his rising influence to target vulnerable individuals, often widowers, with promises of support in exchange for conversion. His reach grew across Balrampur and the Indo-Nepal border region, eventually drawing attention from intelligence agencies.
The name ‘Changur’ comes from his physical feature—six fingers on one hand—a trait that reportedly lent mystique to his image.
‘Conversion factory’ run from dargah
A report by Hindustan Times, earlier cited investigators saying that Changur Baba operated his network from the Chand Auliya Dargah in Balrampur district, organising large religious gatherings attended by Indian and foreign nationals.
“Chhaangur Baba and his associates had travelled to different Islamic countries for over 50 times in the past few years,” a senior police official privy to the investigation said.
Senior police officials revealed that Jalaluddin amassed a sprawling empire over the past decade. Properties were found in Balrampur (Uttar Pradesh), Pune (Maharashtra), and luxury vehicles linked to his name.
One such property in Madhpur village, Balrampur—spread over three bighas and worth ₹3 crore—was demolished for being built illegally on gram sabha land.
Through religious discourses, a book titled Shijra-e-Tayyaba, and psychological tactics, he promoted Islam while systematically inducing, coercing, and manipulating individuals of other faiths – “particularly Hindus, Scheduled Castes, and economically disadvantaged persons – into religious conversion,” news agency PTI quoted official as saying.
The ATS added that “the poor, helpless labourers, weaker sections and widowed women were lured with incentives, financial aid, promises of marriage, or forced through intimidation.”
₹16 lakh for Brahmin girls
Investigators discovered that the racket maintained a caste-based "rate list" for conversions. "The gang had fixed amounts for converting individuals from different castes including ₹15-16 lakh for Brahmin, Sardar, or Kshatriya girls, ₹10-12 lakh for OBC girls, and ₹8-10 lakh for girls from other castes,” an ATS officer said.
In one such case, a woman named Gunja Gupta from Lucknow was allegedly lured into a relationship by an associate named Abu Ansari, who posed as “Amit.” She was taken to Balrampur and later converted to Islam, adopting the name Aleena Ansari.