Agra conversion racket: Mastermind Abdul Rehman arrested from Delhi, missing Haryana girl rescued from his home

In a major breakthrough in the Agra religious conversion case, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have arrested mastermind Abdul Rehman from the Mustafabad area of Delhi. According to officials, Abdul Rehman is believed to be the main brains behind the widespread religious conversion racket that recently came to light in Agra. Abdul Rehman’s house was searched, and a large number of books meant for brainwashing people into conversion were recovered from there.

This is the 11th arrest so far in the case. Abdul Rehman, originally from Firozabad, was earlier a Hindu named Mahendra Pal. He had converted to Christianity first, and later converted to Islam. His involvement in the racket was reportedly inspired by jailed cleric Kaleem Siddiqui, who is currently serving a life sentence for running a similar conversion network.

Ties to foreign funding 

Investigators say that Abdul Rehman’s nephew lives in London, and they suspect that he may have been helping with foreign funding for the conversion activities. Teams from the ATS and IB are now conducting raids again in Delhi and Kolkata based on fresh leads.

The agencies are also getting important information from the ten people already in custody, who are currently on a 10-day police remand. These individuals, many of whom were themselves converts from Hinduism to Islam, have revealed how they were brainwashed and later recruited into the racket. During questioning, they said they were taught that converting others was the only way to attain heaven, or “jannat,” and they began to actively target vulnerable people, calling it “adding new relations.”

A victim rescued from accused’s house

From Abdul Rehman’s residence, police also rescued a woman named Mamta from Haryana, who had been brought there for conversion. The authorities also recovered several books that promoted religious conversion, further strengthening the case against him.

The agencies believe that after Kaleem Siddiqui’s arrest and conviction by an NIA court, Abdul Rehman had taken over and continued running the network. He is suspected of being in regular contact with other key members of the racket, many of whom operated under fake identities.

Several members were Hindus before conversion

Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar shared the names and former identities of the accused, many of whom were once Hindus. Ayesha from Goa was earlier S.B. Krishna, Ali Hassan from Kolkata was once Shekhar Rai, Abu Rehman from Dehradun was previously Rupendra Baghel, Mohammad Ali from Jaipur was earlier Piyush Singh Panwar, and Mustafa from Delhi was formerly known as Manoj. Similarly, Mohammad Ibrahim from Kolkata used to be Reet Banik. Officials say these individuals were heavily brainwashed and then turned into recruiters to pull more people into the network, mostly through social media.

Missing sisters are now demanding release of accused

Two sisters had gone missing from Agra’s Sadar Bazar area. One of the sister’s photo with an AK-47 was shared on social media which prompted the investigation. During questioning, the girls told the police they were willing to return home, but only on the condition that the arrested accused be released. According to them, those arrested had done nothing wrong and were only “serving religion.” The sisters claimed that if the accused remained in jail, none of them would go to heaven.

The older sister, an MSc in Zoology and an MPhil graduate, had been preparing for the NET exam in Agra when she met a woman named Saima, also known as Khushboo, from Jammu and Kashmir. Attracted by her appearance and behaviour, she became close to her. Saima slowly introduced her to Islamic teachings and sent her videos promoting religious conversion. Soon, the older sister started wearing a burqa and offering namaz at home. Although her family brought her back from Kashmir during the COVID lockdown, she had already been mentally influenced and soon convinced her younger sister to follow the same path.

The younger sister admitted during questioning that she was already frustrated at home, her mother would often scold her, either for her studies or household chores. Seeing her elder sister’s new way of life, she believed it was better than what she had. She started following her, thinking it was a way to live more freely and meaningfully.

Social media used to target victims

Many of the accused were reportedly using Instagram and other platforms to find and communicate with potential converts. One such ID named “Connecting Revert” was being run by Reet Banik, alias Mohammad Ibrahim from Kolkata, who was in touch with the sisters. Police say social media played a major role in spreading this racket and attracting more people, especially the youth.

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