MAR 29, 2024 JLM 68°F 10:18 AM 03:18 AM EST
India: Muslim cleric arrested for running massive Islamic conversion syndicate

Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, a senior cleric of Western Uttar Pradesh and a well-known Islamic scholar from Meerut, was arrested last week by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on charges of running an illegal religious conversion racket. Three other associates of the Maulana were also taken into custody along with him; the arrests were made based on clues obtained during the interrogation of another Muslim cleric, Mohammad Umar Gautam, by the ATS. Umar Gautam was arrested three months ago by ATS for running a similar conversion racket.

Reportedly, all the detainees were interrogated throughout the night by the ATS. According to recent reports, the squad made 10 more arrests for alleged connections with the religious conversion racket case. Officials have confirmed that the detainees have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2020.

Siddiqui was presented in court on Wednesday; the ATS asked that he be kept in custody for ten days while they probed further into the case, according to Uttar Pradesh’s Additional Director General (ADG) for Law & Order, Prashant Kumar. The Special Additional District and Session Court, after considering the evidence produced by the prosecution (the National Investigation Agency, NIA, and the ATS) agreed to this custody. The remand period started on September 24 at 10 AM. The officials will interrogate the Maulana to get additional information about his links.

The UP ATS claims that Maulana Siddiqui has been operating a major Islamic conversion syndicate, and that his network is larger than that of Umar Gautam’s, who is said to have converted thousands of Hindus in Uttar Pradesh and in the national capital.

Protests and support from Muslim entities notwithstanding, Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui remains in police remand. It is suspected that he has converted as many as a hundred thousand non-Muslims to Islam already. Allegedly, he had Love Jihad (Grooming Jihad) on his agenda as well, and hence was on the close watch by the security agency for such suspicious activities.

Did you find this article interesting?
Comments
To leave a comment, please log in

DISCOVER MORE

"Iron Swords" - War in Gaza Hamas The Iran Threat Biden Administration Hezbollah The Leftist-Islamist Alliance Israeli Technology Palestine = Hamas = ISIS Israeli_Nature 10/7 Hamas Massacres Biblical Archaeology Jihadi Infiltration into the West Heroes of Israel The Bible Muslim Persecution of Jews