Days after the Uttar Pradesh police arrested a Christian pastor named Vijay Masih and 13 other people for illegally converting a group of Hindus to Christianity in the Fatehpur district of the state, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has started probing foreign funding links of the accused. The arrested people, associated with a local church in Fatehpur, were linked with a mass conversion racket, reports News 18 Hindi.
The racket was unearthed in April this year. Since then, police in UP’s Fatehpur have carried out three rounds of arrests following complaints from VHP and Bajrang Dal members about Christian groups trying to convert Hindus through bribes and allurement.
The UP ATS are now suspecting that the accused have been receiving foreign funding to fuel illegal religious conversions in the state. To probe this angle, the ATS has started investigating the foreign funding network of the arrested accused. The details of the bank accounts of as many as 31 of the 36 accused are being scrutinised.
The ATS is also investigating the role of a police officer, according to sources. The ATS inquiry indicated that there was laxity in handling the case because one Christian missionary is connected with an influential individual. However, the ATS is hopeful that numerous critical information about the racket may emerge following the investigation.
Uttar Pradesh police busts mass conversion racket in Fatehpur
Since April, the police have arrested 40 people connected to the Evangelical Church of India (ECI) in the Hariharganj locality of Fatehpur, with 14 of the arrests taking place between 30 October and 9 November.
On October 30, continuing its probe into the alleged illegal conversion racket, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested an accused Christian pastor named Vijay Masih for illegally converting a group of Hindus to Christianity in the Fatehpur district of the state. The accused was absconding after he was booked in another case of illegal mass conversion two and a half months ago. The Police arrested him on Sunday after they got a tip against the accused who was secretly carrying out another mass conversion in Hariharganj Church of the city.
The accused pastor, in the name of prayers, was giving lessons about Christianity to Hindus and was trying to forcefully change their religion. The Police arrived at the spot after they were informed about the illegal conversions and arrested the pastor for luring the Hindus. The Police have also recovered several Aadhaar Cards with different identities from the accused.
The accused pastor confessed that he was illegally converting a group of Hindus to Christianity in the Hariharganj Church of the city. He said that the Aadhaar Cards recovered by the Police belonged to those Hindus who have been converted and that their identities have been updated after they have been given lessons about Christianity and converted to a new religion.
Earlier, in April this year, the Fatehpur Police had arrested 26 people including the pastor in a case of mass conversion of Hindus to Christianity in the ECI Church building in Uttar Pradesh. Police had also booked 55 people in total in the case, including 10 women. The names of the accused included Vijay Kumar Samson, Reshma Samson, Ratna Daud, Sharon, Jyoti Monalisa, Geeta Masih, and more.
Hindu outfits raise alarm
The matter had come to light after the members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal surrounded the ECI Church building in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, and staged protests against the pastor who was allegedly converting more than 50 Hindus inside the Church. Around 100 people had gathered inside the Church on April 14 of which more than 50 were Hindus. The VHP members had also gathered outside the Church and alleged that the pastor in the name of prayers was giving lessons of Christianity to Hindus and was trying to forcefully change their religion.
Later, the accused after being released on bail continued to convert poor Hindus under the guise of a healing assembly. On receiving the complaint two and a half months ago, the police registered a case against Masih and the other persons involved. While they arrested many other accused involved in the case, they could not nab pastor Vijay Masih who went absconding from the spot. However, the accused pastor was arrested by the Police on October 30 while he was secretively luring, brainwashing innocent and poor Hindus and forcing them to convert to Christianity. Further investigations into the case are underway.
