An FIR was lodged against nine people following allegations of religious conversion in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, police said, as reported by news agency PTI. The police have also initiated a probe into the matter. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rohit Singh Sajwan said that a complaint was received regarding religion conversion, and Brahmapuri police station is looking into it.
Sajwan said that based on the preliminary report, a case was registered against nine people, including three women, on Friday. No arrests have so far been made in the case.
The accused have been identified as – Chhabili alias Shiva, Binwa, Anil, Sardar, Nikku, Basant, Prema, Titli, and Reena. They have been booked under Section 3, 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Conversion Prohibition Act.
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Police said that a few residents of Mangatapuram Colony in Meerut had filed the complaint. It said that some people had provided food and financial assistance to the poor living in the area during the COVID-19 crisis period. Later, the accused had allegedly forced them into converting to Christianity, the complaint read, reported PTI.
“Not only this, pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses are also being thrown out by the accused from the houses of the people of Mangatapuram Colony. On protesting or complaining about the incident to anyone, the accused come home with knives and sticks and threaten to kill,” according to the complaint, as quoted by PTI.
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Meanwhile, local BJP leader Deepak Sharma alleged that more than 100 people living from Mangatapuram Colony have allegedly been converted to Christianity, adding that this has been going on for the past three years, PTI report read.