Uttar Pradesh: Arrest of individuals in Prayagraj accused of a religious conversion racket.
Prayagraj police on 17th January arrested three persons for allegedly running a religious conversion racket during Magh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Magh Mela is an annual Hindu fair held on the vast sands of Sangam (confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati) in Prayagraj. The three accused were arrested for selling and distributing ‘suspicious’ books and pamphlets in an attempt to motivate people to get converted to Islam. The arrested persons were identified as Mehmood Hasan Gazi (a Madrasa teacher), Mohd Monish a.k.a Ashish Kumar Gupta and Sameer a.k.a Naresh Kumar Saroj.
Police found ‘suspicious’ Islamic books, pamphlets, and identification documents in the possession of the three accused, two of whom had converted to Islam two years ago and were members of the Student Islamic Organisation (SIO). The alleged racket came to light after some persons raised objections to the distribution of ‘objectionable’ material and informed police about the two youths who were distributing books and pamphlets in the Mela area at a kiosk on Monday (January 16).