ED Cracks Down on UP's Covert Conversion Network

The Enforcement Directorate has sealed a boutique in Balrampur linked to a religious conversion racket in Uttar Pradesh. Authorities arrested Jamaluddin and Nasreen, suspected leaders of a 15-year operation with foreign funding. Investigations focus on financial links, illegal properties, and a wider conspiracy near the Nepal border.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sealed a three-storey boutique owned by Nasreen in Balrampur, closely associated with Jamaluddin alias Chhangur Baba, central figures in an alleged religious conversion case in Uttar Pradesh. Both were earlier arrested by the ATS for allegedly running an extensive covert network facilitating religious conversions across the state and beyond.

On Wednesday, the ED launched an extensive search operation related to the Chhangur Baba case, targeting 14 locations: 12 in Utraula, Balrampur, and two in Mumbai. The ATS previously secured a seven-day remand for Jamaluddin and Nasreen on July 11 to probe their operations, financial connections, and allegedly illicit assets more deeply.

Uttar Pradesh's ADG of Law and Order, Amitabh Yash, revealed the gang's 15-year operation employed manipulative strategies including honey-trapping, administrative influence, targeting minors, and involving powerful figures to promote conversions. Significant foreign funding was traced to the group, Yash told ANI. Different conversion types had distinct rate cards, with funds moved through about 40 bank accounts. Seizure and demolition of properties bought with these funds, along with further inquiries into their network, financial pathways, and assets, are underway.

Jamaluddin, Nasreen, and others with evidence against them have been apprehended, with individuals like Mohammed Ahmed named in the ongoing investigation. The ED has requested the ATS FIR for a parallel financial probe. ADG Yash emphasizes demographic concerns near the Nepal border, hinting at a potential larger conspiracy.

(With inputs from agencies.)