DAMOH: Several cases of Christian conversion linked to churches have been coming to light in Madhya Pradesh. Another major case has once again emerged, showing how fraudulent activities are allegedly being carried out in the name of service. The case, linked to missionary organisations in Damoh district, has shocked everyone. This time, the allegation concerns fraud in the Samagra ID system. According to the complaint, the names of 105 children were added to a single Samagra ID. The police are describing it as the biggest case so far and are also investigating it from the angles of child buying and selling, human abuse, human trafficking and religious conversion.
In the case, Damoh Mission Hospital manager Sanjeev Lambert has once again been arrested by the police. It is noteworthy that Sanjeev had also been arrested eight months ago in connection with deaths allegedly caused by treatment by a fake doctor. At that time, a reward of Rs 30,000 had also been announced for him. He was later released on bail. Now, Damoh Dehat Police have arrested him again in connection with the Samagra ID fraud case. He was subsequently produced before the court and sent to jail.
Case came to light following complaint by Child Welfare Committee
The case came to light following a complaint by Child Welfare Committee chairman Deepak Tiwari. In an application submitted to Damoh Dehat Police Station, he stated that the names of several children had been linked to a Samagra ID created in the name of the institution. Considering the seriousness of the complaint, a four-member investigation team was constituted on the orders of the Collector. After the team’s report found the allegations of fraud and manipulation to be correct, the police took action. Station House Officer Dharmendra Upadhyay investigated the matter on the basis of the application and found the complaint to be correct. Subsequently, on 25 September, an FIR was registered against six people, including Sanjeev Lambert. Lambert has been arrested, while the remaining five accused are absconding.
Case registered under forgery sections
The police have registered a case against Lambert under Sections 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. These sections relate to serious forgery, preparing forged documents with the intention of cheating, and using them as genuine.
Station Officer (TI) Dharmendra Upadhyay said that the complaint contains serious allegations of fraud and manipulation in the Samagra IDs of children. The biological parents of these children are someone else, but their names were added to a single ID by manipulating the documents. Different details regarding the number of children have emerged so far. Irregularities have been found in the IDs of 105 children. The police want to make it clear that all records are still being examined.
Name of one child added in 2016
The investigation revealed that accused Lambert had entered the name of a child in his household’s Samagra ID in 2016. It is suspected that the child was subjected to Christian conversion through this process. During questioning, Lambert said that the child is currently living in Chhattisgarh. According to the Station House Officer, a police team will visit the address provided and conduct further investigation.
In this regard, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman Deepak Tiwari said, “I had been trying to ascertain the truth in this matter for the past four years, but success has come only now. The discovery of such a large number of children’s names in a single Samagra ID has increased the suspicion of human trafficking and the buying and selling of children.” He said that the IDs of 105 children have been entered in the name of the office, whereas the name of the head of the family is recorded in a Samagra ID. Not only this, the missionary institution entered the names of several children on the school portal by showing the children themselves as one another’s parents. They continued to take scholarships in the names of the children and also obtain ration. Subsequently, the names of these children were linked with another 40 to 50 Christian families.
Deepak Tiwari further said that children from states other than Madhya Pradesh were also brought and kept in Damoh. Forged documents were prepared for them. It is possible that conversion on a large scale also took place. There is also an angle of human trafficking, which is why the entire matter should be investigated thoroughly and the guilty should be given the strictest possible punishment, so that they are unable to carry out such wrongful activities in the future.
The police now face several important questions: through what process were the names of so many children entered into a single Samagra ID? On whose instructions were changes made to the records, and at the level of which officials or employees did this take place? Is there any link between the Mission Hospital case and this case? The police are examining the children’s records, their parents and documents relating to the institutions concerned. Possible links between the two cases are also being investigated.
Possibility of further revelations
The police say that the investigation is continuing and several more revelations may emerge in the coming days. Further layers of the case are expected to come to light after the arrest of the five absconding accused. At the same time, there is a possibility that some more accused may also emerge. On the other hand, some people associated with social service, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said that the Aadhaarshila institution had previously faced strong allegations of conversion. The recognition of the children’s home run by the Aadhaarshila institution, operated by Christian missionary Dr Ajay Lal, had been cancelled for this very reason.
Earlier, several allegations of sexual abuse and religious conversion had also been levelled against this Bal Bhavan. The Madhya Pradesh Child Rights Protection Commission and the NCPCR had taken cognisance of the matter and investigated it, following which a complaint was lodged with the police. It is known that a complaint had been received against Devendra Doniel, an employee of Dr Ajay Lal’s Aadhaarshila institution’s Bal Bhavan, alleging indecent chatting with a minor girl and her sexual abuse.
When the complaint was received, the Child Commission wrote to the government seeking an investigation into the institution. On the other hand, a two-member team of the Madhya Pradesh Child Commission found during its investigation that boys and girls were being kept together there. There was also a case involving the alleged sexual abuse of a girl by the institution’s warden, Daniel. Alongside this, it was also found that Hindu children were being taught Christian practices and were being made to read the Bible.
