Three individuals have been detained by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh on suspicion of performing illegal religious conversions to Islam in Saharanpur district. On the night of June 2, ATS arrested three persons, namely Nazim Hasan, Mohammad Sadiq, and Azhar Malik, from multiple locations across the district.
After the analysis of data by the officials of electronic surveillance gathered, it was proved that all three were involved in carrying out a conversion racket in Saharanpur, according to ATS. One of the victims trapped by Nazim Hasan was Gaurav.
Gaurav, a district resident, was trapped by Nazim Hasan, said the ATS. The accused came in contact with Gaurav through his father, Somdutt Singh, a resident of Saharanpur. During the interrogation, the accused, Nazim Hasan alias Rashid, said he came in contact with Somdutt Singh and medically treated him to control his sugar levels. For Singh’s treatment, Hasan gave him medicines.
According to Naveen Arora, Additional DG, ATS stated, “Nazim further confessed that during the course of his visit to Somdutt’s residence he instigated his son Gaurav to convert to Islam by explaining to him about the religion”.
While interrogating Hasan, according to Arora, he stated that Hasan also persuaded Gaurav and taught him to read namaz, observe a fast, and invite him to the madrassa by portraying Islam as the world’s best religion and demonstrated that all other religions are wrong.
According to ADG Arora, Hasan has contributed significantly to the conversion of Hindus to Islam, including Gaurav, by sowing seeds of fear, persuasion, and greed for employment and marriages. After befriending Gaurav, Hasan brainwashed him and, after that, made to convert to Islam.
As part of this conversion modus operandi, a girl named Reshma from Bengaluru contacted Gaurav through Hasan. She contacted him through an online game and offered to marry him, provided he converted to Islam. Reshma has yet to be detained.
According to the ATS, suspects Sadiq and Malik offered Gaurav money as an inducement to convert to Islam. Arora claimed that an FIR was registered against the offenders under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act and other relevant sections.
Notably, conversion activities through such events are rising day by day, and the target is a vulnerable and weak person. The conversion mafia lures these innocent people with money, job, or some other allurement.
Recently, on June 24, the Epifani School in Kanpur Nagar organised a medical camp wherein oil and medicine were expected to be distributed among patients. However, the event turned out to be a religious gathering where prayers were recited amid chants of hallelujah.
One of the Bajrang Dal activists also joined the meeting and exposed the organisers. Following his objection, an FIR was also registered against the culprits.
In April, a Hindu woman from the Majhola area of Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh gave a complaint to the police against Mohammad Jamal. The woman alleged that Jamal posed as a Hindu man to trap her into conversion-nikah. Later he left her giving ‘Triple Talaq’.
The woman, in her complaint, stated that Jamal posed as Sonu to befriend her four years ago. When she was trapped in his clutches, he revealed his true identity. Soon, he began forcing her to convert to Islam. Later the woman found he already had a wife; when confronted, he gave her the banned ‘Triple Talaq’.
Last year, a man named Saqib Saifi concealed his identity and used the name Shiv Thakur to lure a young woman to convert her forcefully. He faked his identity and raped the woman, and pressured her to change her religion. The man is a resident of Bambagar in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the reports, the woman met the accused through social media in Ramnagar, Uttrakhand. When the woman came to know about Saifi’s true identity, she filed a complaint. On the basis of her complaint, the Nanital police station lodged an FIR (First Information Report) against Saqib Saifi and four of his relatives, Ghazala, Rahila, Saba, and Yunus, under relevant sections of IPC and the Freedom of Religion Act, 2018.
