Agra conversion racket: Piyush Panwar became Mohammad Ali for a girl, she rejected him after converting him, he then joined the conversion mafia to convert others
The Uttar Pradesh police has nabbed 10 individuals under “Mission Asmita” in a conversion racket case from six different states. The racket was based out of Agra in Uttar Pradesh. One of the accused arrested in the case is Mohammad Ali, who was arrested from Rajasthan.
Mohammad Ali, arrested in the pan-India religious conversion racket case has now declared his intention to do “ghar wapsi” and return to the fold of Hinduism, reported NDTV. The accused even claimed to be himself a victim as well.
According to sources, Mohammad Ali broke down during the interrogation in Agra jail and requested that he wants to go back home. Furthermore, he highlighted his intention to return to being a Hindu. Ali even expressed his wish to apologise to his parents, who severed their relationship with him following his conversion to Islam.
Piyush Panwar becomes Mohammad Ali for a girl
Piyush Panwar’s drastic journey to becoming Mohammad Ali began in 2021 when he met a young woman named Shana from Tonk, Rajasthan. They decided to marry after falling in love. However, the girl asserted that he must embrace Islam to which he consented and changed his name to Mohammad Ali. However, she rejected him after that. Following which, Mohammad Ali (earlier known as Piyush Panwar) married a Muslim girl from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly.
Ali met Mohammad Gaus, a member of the banned terror group PFI on his way to become a Muslim. The latter introduced him to Kalim Siddiqui, a Delhi cleric who was found guilty in a different conversion case last year.
Mohammad Ali then travelled to West Bengal to receive religious education. He spent three months at the madarsas in Asansol, Bardhaman and Katwapara. He then connected with Ayesha, a Goan woman, who has also been arrested in the conversion case, on Instagram approximately a year ago. Her name was SB Krishna before she converted to Islam. She used to keep track of the names of the girls who had converted to Islam. He even unveiled that their network is affiliated with Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
The shocking findings
Hasan Ali and Osama from Kolkata, Rahman Qureshi from Agra, Abu Talib from Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), Abdur Rehman from Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Mohammad Ali and Junaid Qureshi from Rajasthan and Mustafa from Delhi have been arrested by the cops in the case.
Notably, Shekhar Roy alias Hasan Ali, Hrithik Banik also known as Mohammad Ibrahim, Rupendra Singh identified as Abdur Rehman and Manoj referred to as Mustafa also converted from Hinduism to Islam.
The police disclosed that they were systematically pushing the impoverished, marginalized and socially disadvantaged Hindus to convert. The lured the unsuspecting people under the guise of performing miracles, providing cures and offering deliverance from malevolent spirits.
Authorities informed that would meet people under bogus names and trick them in the name of “service work” while concealing their religious identities. Some accused even had ties to religious organizations and were exploiting the same for conversion purposes.
Investigative agencies are currently examining whether the perpetrators received financial support from any international networks as preliminary evidence revealed dubious bank transactions and details of foreign calls.
The inquiry disclosed that the accused managed to find their tragets through madrasas and fake NGOs. These organizations were functioning under the pretense of providing social services. According to police reports, most of the individuals chosen for conversion were from Dalit backgrounds, unemployed or disabled.
The were attracted using enticing offers and monetary aids. The victims were promised assistance with food, healthcare and money for the education of their children. Furthermore, the offenders even shared videos and delivered speeches that propagated conversion. WhatsApp groups were also created. PAN cards and Aadhaar cards were issued based on the new names to evade government scrutiny.
Some of the culprits have previously been booked for their communal actions in the past. The gang referred to itself as “revert” (term used by Muslim converts). They first published an advertisement in the newspaper about those who converted and then prepared required documents through courts. Afterward, the trapped girls are married, making it difficult for them to escape from there and return home.
The information was disclosed by the accused during their questioning by officials from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Intelligence Bureau (IB). They would often present themselves as reverts on social media after conversion.
It also came to light that the gang seduced those who turned 18 to facilitate their conversion without complications. They were able to present themselves as adults in court. Additionally, they had the legal liberty to convert to a different religion. They could even motivate other people in their circle to follow suit. Hence, several such young men and women were targeted for the purpose of conversion.
The Uttar Pradesh ATS suspects that the link of this gang might also reach Bihar, Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala. The police have filed a case against all the accused under strict legal provisions. Additionally, an investigation into the groups they were associated with has commenced. According to officials, it could be a small part of a large network that operates across India.
ISIS-style working
The authorities stated, “Police arrested 10 members of an organized gang involved in religious conversion from 6 different states across the country. 11 teams were sent to various states for the same. Two young women who earlier went missing from Agra were being enticed by this group for religious conversion. They were rescued in time by the Agra Police and handed over to their families.”
“These individuals are engaged in similar activities in different states. They target young girls through inducements, love jihad and other methods. This modus operandi of the radicalisation and conversions is a signature style of ISIS (Islmaic State of Iraq and Syria). Initial investigations have indicated that this group has connections with PFI, its political wing SDPI and terrorist organizations in Pakistan. Their illegal operations have been funded from Canada and the United States,” the police outlined.
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