LUCKNOW: As many as 835 cases were registered in the state till July 31 under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act since its inception in 2020. A total of 1,682 people were arrested in these cases.
The commissionerate of Ghaziabad and the districts of Ambedkarnagar, Bhadohi, Saharanpur, and Shahjahanpur have taken maximum action in these cases.
State DGP Prashant Kumar said that senior officers are monitoring investigations in all the cases pertaining to illegal conversions.
“Police officials have been directed to initiate action based on evidence. Those who offer allurement, inducement, and adopt illegal means for conversion would not be spared and action would be taken against them,” he said. “We have filed a charge sheet in almost 98% cases till now, which is about 818 cases, while 17 cases are still under probe,” said Kumar. Kumar said that overall, 2,708 persons were named in the 835 cases.
Senior police officers said that 124 of those whose role was not found were let off. “Seventy others named in the cases have surrendered in court,” the officer said.
“We also ensure that no innocent person is harassed by the police. All the cases in which charges of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion have been slapped are being monitored at the headquarters level,” the DG added.
Another officer said that till now, conviction has been achieved in four cases.
“Many of the cases are under trial and we are vigorously monitoring such cases,” said the officer. In one of these cases, the police also attached the properties of Sitapur resident, Zubrail, who was booked under the law in December last year. The accused, who was declared a proclaimed offender, has been on the run since then. Meanwhile, one Afzal was given a sentence of five years and imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 in Amroha.
Talking about another case, a senior police officer in Lucknow said that a Muslim woman, who was a resident of Lucknow, had lodged an FIR at Indiranagar police station accusing her husband Ashraf, who is also head of a shrine in Karnataka, of running a ‘love jihad’ campaign under anti-conversion laws on July 6. She said that the case was transferred to Bangalore. Recently, cases have also come up in which a couple visiting Sitapur along with tourists from Brazil was booked under the law for allegedly forcing people to convert to Christianity.
Meanwhile, govt-aided Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, has landed in fresh trouble with the Fatehpur police lodging an FIR against eight of its officials, including the vice-chancellor and two pro vice-chancellors, for criminal conspiracy, and under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion.
The commissionerate of Ghaziabad and the districts of Ambedkarnagar, Bhadohi, Saharanpur, and Shahjahanpur have taken maximum action in these cases.
State DGP Prashant Kumar said that senior officers are monitoring investigations in all the cases pertaining to illegal conversions.
“Police officials have been directed to initiate action based on evidence. Those who offer allurement, inducement, and adopt illegal means for conversion would not be spared and action would be taken against them,” he said. “We have filed a charge sheet in almost 98% cases till now, which is about 818 cases, while 17 cases are still under probe,” said Kumar. Kumar said that overall, 2,708 persons were named in the 835 cases.
Senior police officers said that 124 of those whose role was not found were let off. “Seventy others named in the cases have surrendered in court,” the officer said.
“We also ensure that no innocent person is harassed by the police. All the cases in which charges of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion have been slapped are being monitored at the headquarters level,” the DG added.
Another officer said that till now, conviction has been achieved in four cases.
“Many of the cases are under trial and we are vigorously monitoring such cases,” said the officer. In one of these cases, the police also attached the properties of Sitapur resident, Zubrail, who was booked under the law in December last year. The accused, who was declared a proclaimed offender, has been on the run since then. Meanwhile, one Afzal was given a sentence of five years and imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 in Amroha.
Talking about another case, a senior police officer in Lucknow said that a Muslim woman, who was a resident of Lucknow, had lodged an FIR at Indiranagar police station accusing her husband Ashraf, who is also head of a shrine in Karnataka, of running a ‘love jihad’ campaign under anti-conversion laws on July 6. She said that the case was transferred to Bangalore. Recently, cases have also come up in which a couple visiting Sitapur along with tourists from Brazil was booked under the law for allegedly forcing people to convert to Christianity.
Meanwhile, govt-aided Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, has landed in fresh trouble with the Fatehpur police lodging an FIR against eight of its officials, including the vice-chancellor and two pro vice-chancellors, for criminal conspiracy, and under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion.
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