106 Crores In 40 Accounts: Conversion Gang Mastermind Chhangur Baba's Empire

Jamaluddin alias Chhangur Baba - the mastermind of a religious conversion gang - once used to sell rings and amulets on his bicycle. He now has funds worth Rs 106 crore - mainly received from the Middle East - in 40 bank accounts and at least two properties worth crores.

Chhangur Baba was arrested along with his close associate Neetu alias Nasreen from a hotel in Lucknow on Saturday in connection with the conversion racket recently busted in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district. Since then, the noose has been tightening around Jamaluddin.

The police had said in a statement that "the poor, helpless labourers, weaker sections, and widowed women were lured with incentives, financial aid, promises of marriage, or forced through intimidation, in violation of established procedures for religious conversion by the accused".

The UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) is also probing if the gang has any terror links. The UP Special Task Force (STF), which registered a case against the gang, is also investigating the matter. The local police are also probing other people allegedly involved in the gang in Balrampur.

Besides these three agencies, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a case to find out the earnings of Chhangur Baba, who is also known as Pir Baba. The basis of the case, which was registered at the Lucknow unit of ED on Tuesday, is a sudden spike in Jamaluddin's earnings.

The agency is probing who sent the money and for what reasons.

The Empire Of Chhangur Baba

Chhangur Baba once used to sell rings and amulets on his bicycle. He later became a village head. Based on the documents found so far, it has been confirmed that funds worth Rs 106 crore have been deposited into his 40 different accounts. All this money has come from Islamic countries of the Middle East, as per the probe.

The entire empire of Chhangur Baba, who is from Rehra Mafi village in Uttar Pradesh, is in the Uttaraula area of Balrampur district, bordering Nepal. He was also once appointed as the head of his native village.

After he met his now aide Neetu, he built a building on a land next to a dargah (a shrine) in Madhpur, nearly three kilometres away from Rehra Mafi village. However, a government investigation found the building to be illegal. On Wednesday, authorities bulldozed the alleged illegal construction on government land.

The building had two sections - Chhangur Baba, his family and aides used to stay in one of the sections. As far as the other section is concerned, there were various plans but no execution to date.

It was earlier alleged that a hospital would be built there. A few years later, it was claimed that a hospital could not be built in this building, so a school or college would be built. Many years have passed since the claims, but it is still not clear for what purpose the building is being used. The building has two dogs and 15 CCTV cameras.

Apart from the Balrampur building, Chhangur Baba also had many properties in several other places. One of these properties is in Maharashtra's Lonavala and was bought in the name of Changur Baba and Naveen - also arrested recently - on August 2, 2023. The price of this land is Rs 16. 49 crore, as per the documents.

The land was sold by a man named Mohammad Ahmed Khan. An Ahmed Khan is also under investigation as he was found to have sent funds to Chhangur Baba. Now it is being investigated whether this Ahmed Khan is the same person who sold the land to Jamaluddin.

On the radar of the security agencies are also those agents, officers and employees in the government system, who were allegedly helping Chhangur in his illegal work. The agencies are also probing how many people he converted and whether the money he received was also used in anti-national activities.

On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that "initial probe" has shown that the activities of accused Jamaluddin are "not only against society but also against the nation".

Asserting that there will be no leniency in matters related to law and order in the state, the chief minister stated, "The properties of the accused and other criminals linked to his gang will be seized, and strict legal action will be taken against them."

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