The infamous blackmailing case of 1992 in Ajmer was revived in public memory after a Jaipur court convicted six more accused in August 2024, bringing the total to 14 accused who trapped over 250 schoolgirls in a pattern where the accused were Muslims and the victims Hindus. A series of targeted crimes following the same pattern as Ajmer came to light from the Beawar district of Rajasthan in February 2025. This was largely called Ajmer 2.0, as the pattern was similar, where school-going teenage girls were targeted by Islamists, one after another, all sexually exploited, groomed, and threatened to bring more girls, ultimately exposed after one of them was caught by family members. The case has three FIRs registered, five victims involved, and over 14 accused arrested, including five minors, while others remain at large.
The targeting of schoolgirls was done by accused individuals who presented themselves as having a luxurious lifestyle, with good clothes, shoes, bikes, and cars; on the contrary, they belonged to the labour class, as most of them were plumbers, welders, tailors, painters, mechanics, and others. Many called these cases a case of “grooming jihad,” as all the accused had used false names to trap the girls and forced them to follow Islamic customs, such as wearing a burqa and observing roza, offering namaz among others.
As of now, 14 accused have been arrested and booked under various sections of the POCSO Act.
Organiser went to Bijainagar on March 18 and met with the victims’ families, along with activists and lawyer groups. The following report comprises details from the interaction with them, along with the background and the latest updates in the case.
The Background
Media reports of minors being given Chinese phones and later sexually exploited by Islamist gangs were reported across Rajasthan and Bharat on February 17. Some reports also emerged on February 16 itself. The details were horrific, as the ages of the girls were merely 14, 15, and 16 years, students of classes 8, 9, and 10, respectively.
The details of the case, first reported in the media, stated that the families of three girls had approached the police with a collective complaint that all of their daughters had been in contact with Muslim boys. They had a particular type of mobile phone and had been groomed to be exploited. They shared with their families how, one after another, they were forced to bring in new girls from school for the boys. They were threatened with their nudes, which the accused party had, going viral, and hence, they could not simply share it with anyone. All the victims knew each other and were friends, which was one of the reasons they all fell victim to this ploy.
By February 17, the police had registered three FIRs and arrested as many as seven accused, including two minors. A press release dated February 17, shared by the Vijay Nagar police, reads, “Five accused, along with two minors, have been detained in a case pertaining to the trapping of minor girls by giving them Chinese phones for sexual exploitation. As named by the families, these accused have been arrested.”
The arrested accused included, namely—Rehan (20), son of Jan Mohammad; Sohel Mansoori (19), son of Anwar; Lukman (20), son of Mohammad Usman; Arman Pathan (19), son of Kalu Khan; and Sahil Qureshi (19), son of Mohammad Sabir, along with two minors.
What the Victims’ Families Say
On the day the Organiser team reached Bijainagar, the family members of the victim girls were at the police station, handing over a memorandum to the police seeking protection. They sought protection from one of the accused, who was detained and later released due to lack of evidence. The accused had been following the girls, who had their board exams, and standing outside their houses, creating mental pressure. The girl who was followed by the accused could not write her exam properly.
After returning from the police station, the family members met the team on the promise of anonymity. Here are the victim-wise details as shared with Organiser:
Victim 1: The brother of the minor girl, Vivek (name changed), spoke with Organiser and shared that two of his sisters had been trapped by the Islamist gang. He said they are 13 and 14 years old, respectively, and study in the same school and class.
Regarding how the case came to light, he said he was the one who first caught one of his sisters, and then the details emerged. The family runs a small shop from home, and all of a sudden, they noticed that money from the shop was going missing. On February 15, one of the minors was talking on a phone when Vivek entered the room. They don’t have any phone other than their mother’s in the house, which raised suspicion. When confronted, she spilled the beans and shared that she was talking to one Lukman Ali. As she had hung up the call in the middle of the conversation, Lukman was repeatedly calling her. Vivek asked her to take the call and put the phone on speaker. From the other side, a barrage of foul words came, and Vivek was shocked to hear it. Lukman was asking the minor to meet him near a kabristan.
As soon as the call ended, Vivek spoke with his sister, taking her into confidence, and asked her to share everything in detail. The girl began explaining how she came in contact with Lukman.
She shared, he used to follow her on her way to school and back, pass comments, throw slips with his number, and ask her to meet him at a café. After ignoring him for weeks, she picked up a slip one day, and the conversation began. After talking to him for days, she believed he truly loved her. He used to take her on new bikes every day to new cafés and places, flatter her with his words, and more. The places they frequently visited were Chill Out Café located in Mill Square and Pizza Hut located in Gurukripa Tower.
Both these places were locked when Organiser visited them on March 18. The police also detained the owner of the Chill Out Café and a notice was pasted on its main door, which had some encroachments cleared by the local administration in the demolition drive.
The phone Vivek’s sister was using was a unique kind of phone, so compact and small to hide and carry. It had a SIM card registered in the name of the accused. A similar phone was recovered from his younger sister, who was also in contact with a Muslim boy. Vivek shared that upon further questioning, she named another girl they knew in their locality who was in contact with a Muslim boy. Vivek immediately called that family and informed them.
Victim 2: The father of the victim, Suresh (name changed), told Organiser that when Vivek called him, he was shocked. He soon asked his daughter, who, upon learning this, began shivering. She was so petrified that she could barely speak. When asked again, she began crying and shared how they forcibly involved her in this.
She shared that, she had been sexually exploited and could not do anything but remain silent. She was taken to the boys by other girls, and they would frequently call them to these cafés, where they were forced to undress, get photographed, kissed, and coerced into doing unthinkable acts. They treated them like commodities, slapped them, abused them, and forcibly engaged in sexual activities with them.
Suresh could not share more but said the details were horrific, and to date, his daughter cannot sleep properly. She, too, had the same phone as Vivek’s sisters, he added.
After meeting Suresh, Vivek decided to inform the police, as the matter was serious. They both reached the police on February 15, and the next day, two more victims came forward.
Organiser could meet one of the families, as the other was out of town.
Victim 3: The maternal uncle, Shyam, of the minor girl told this correspondent that she shared details similar to those of the other girls and studies in the same school as them. He had to be harsh with her before she admitted and shared everything. She had changed significantly in recent months, and they could not pinpoint the reason until these details emerged. She had become annoyingly silent, would not go out to meet people, and just stayed at home.
Shyam added that on February 14, she was restless about leaving the house. He was out for work, and his wife called to say the minor wanted to go out. Knowing it was Valentine’s Day and the atmosphere was not right, Shyam did not allow her to leave.
Victim 4: The family was out of town, but their daughter studies in the same school as the other girls and was trapped by an Islamist boy in a similar manner.
As many as four victims from three families had approached the police for help, based on which three FIRs have been lodged as FIR Numbers 60, 61, and 62/2025 at the Vijay Nagar Police Station on February 16.
Why are we calling it “Grooming Jihad”?
These girls were trapped by the Islamists, but how it all started, how they became an easy target and why this case resembles the famous Ajmer 92 case, here’s why.
One of the most striking similarities that the families discovered was how these girls were trapped from the same school and studied in the same class, meaning after trapping one, they used her to trap other girls. The list does not stop at five, as there are other victims too, but due to concerns about their image in society, they are not coming forward publicly.
Another similarity is the type of phone given to these girls. They were all identical sets of a China-made model, which can be carried easily and hidden from the family.
A black thread on their hands and legs was another common factor. All these girls had a thread tied on their hands and legs, given to them by the accused boys with a promise that they would not remove it.
The accused posed as Hindus and used Hindu names to trap these girls. Only after getting physical with them and recording the act did they reveal their true names. They wore kalawa and used Hindu names, leading the girls to believe they were Hindus.
Suresh and Vivek shared that their girls had told them about the punishments they faced when they refused to follow the accused boys’ orders. They would either face abuse and torture or get cuts on their wrists and hands with a knife. The accused would cut their hands while chanting a kind of Kalma, saying this punishment was handed down by the Almighty.
Additionally, all the families agreed that the girls reported that the accused men taught them about Islam, asked them to abandon Hindu religious practices, and encouraged them to observe Roza and offer Namaz. They would teach them how Namaz is performed, how many Roza are observed in Ramzan, and how a woman should cover her head with a hijab, wear a burqa, and more. The families believe that if they had not been caught before Ramzan, the accused would have taken the girls with them and performed Nikah with them.
Another peculiar similarity identified by the family members of these victim girls was that they were all emotionally vulnerable. Some had lost one of their parents, some lived with relatives, and most were emotionally drained, making them easy targets for the accused gang. How the accused came to know about this is a different matter.
Another aspect was flattery. While telling their parents, one of the girls described how they used to boast among their friends that three boys were after them, and others would boast about extreme steps like kissing the boy. As a fashion statement, these behaviors were common among the girls, and to be part of the so-called mainstream of the class, these girls participated.
What do the activists say?
Organiser spoke with a lawyer who will take up the case in the future and is also a member of Sarva Samaj Samiti, fighting for the rights of the girls. The samiti has over 32 members, and one of its members, Lawyer Gopal Narayan Sharma, spoke to Organiser on camera.
He spoke at length about how the girls were systematically targeted, how the families live in fear, why it is important to call out these cases, and more.
One interesting observation Sharma made while conversing with the minors and their families was that these boys, though coming from a very poor background, managed to live a luxurious life, at least in front of the girls. They also used new vehicles every day. Where was the money coming from?
Sharma says there is an entire organization working behind these boys, funding such activities. He claimed the boys had said they would get 20 lakh for trapping a Brahmin girl, 15 lakh for an OBC or Jain girl, and 8-10 lakh for an SC-ST girl. This is the fixed rate for converting a “kafir” from these communities to Islam, earning the accused men such amounts.
It is important to mention here that out of the four victims, one belongs to the Scheduled Tribe category, while the others are Brahmin.
When asked how long it took for the boys to trap the girls, Sharma said, “It all started in October 2024 and was exposed in February 2025. Had it not been February, the boys were planning to take the girls to Ajmer Dargah for conversion and nikah this Ramzan.”
Regarding the political affiliations of the accused, Sharma shared that one of the accused, claimed to be the mastermind of the gang, Hakeem Qureshi, was a former councillor in the city and a well-known figure. He was an approachable person who used to participate in Jain Shobha Yatras, Khatu Shyam Yatra, and Bhandaras, as if he were a Hindu. He surrendered in the case on March 3 and has been charged under sections of the POCSO Act.
Earlier, he was remanded to five-day police custody on February 27 in connection with a case of alleged sexual exploitation of girls and forcing them to convert, a senior police officer said.
Bijainagar is a comparatively small city where almost everyone knows everyone. Considering this, when the correspondent asked the victims’ families and Sharma how the girls could keep meeting these boys and talking to them without the families knowing, they said, “threats.” The girls, to this day, shiver when talking about the incidents. They had been threatened and tortured to an extent that is unimaginable. They have cuts on their hands and used to talk and walk like machines, as if something had happened to them. “Imagine 8-10 bikes circling you, cars revolving around you to take you places, and if you refuse, your nudes will be made public. What would you do? They are merely 14-15,” said Sharma.
One of the girls shared with Sharma that she was told not to worry about money, as she comes from the Brahmin caste, and marrying him would easily get them 20 lakh. All she needed to do was offer namaz, wear a hijab, and keep roza. They would recite ayats from the Quran to keep them motivated.
The activists are not satisfied with the government’s actions in this case, as they want stricter measures. They want the CBI to investigate, as this could expose the entire nexus behind these boys. “It’s not that these boys rose all of a sudden and began targeting these girls. It is taught in mosques and madrasas, dedicated funds are issued, and hence this needs to be dug deeper—something on the lines of organized crime and nothing less. Mere POCSO won’t suffice,” said Sharma.
Ajmer 1992 and beyond: A web of exploitation
The case of Bijainagar resembles the infamous Ajmer 1992 case where Farooq Chishti, one of the main perpetrators, was found to have befriended a young girl from Sophia Senior Secondary School in Ajmer, taking obscene photos of her and using them to coerce her into introducing him to other girls. Dainik Navjyoti reported that over 250 victims, aged between 11 and 20, were affected. The scandal came to light when the obscene photos were leaked, prompting the police to take action. In September 1992, 18 individuals were charged, with the first eight sentenced to life imprisonment. However, four of these were later acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court in 2001. In 2007, a fast-track court convicted Farooq Chishti, but he was released on time served by the High Court in 2013.
The disturbing trend of conversion rackets isn’t limited to Bijainagar or Ajmer; it’s a widespread issue plaguing the entire Rajasthan, according to a lawyer providing legal aid to victim families in the Bijainagar case. These cases are exposing the sinister workings of a well-organised racket, sending shockwaves across Bharat.
For instance, he mentioned the case in Bhilwara, where a minor girl was gang-raped and pressured to convert her Islam. Her father filed a case against six individuals. According to Pratap Nagar police, the accused blackmailed the girl with explicit photos and videos, repeatedly raped her, and threatened to kill her family.
A similar case was reported on March 2, prompting Hindu organisations to call for a Bhilwara bandh on March 10.
The father stated that since 2021, the accused neighbour and his wife befriended his daughter, raped her, and recorded explicit content while threatening her. The assaults continued over four years, involving the neighbour’s brother-in-law and friends. The accused also allegedly took her to Ajmer to force religious conversion. On March 4, the girl revealed the ordeal to her family.
In a separate March 2 case at Kotwali police station, nine accused, including a woman, were arrested for gang-raping a minor after luring her to a café.
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