Last week the Delhi police blew the lid off a major conversion racket that was being carried out in a shelter home in the national capital’s Turkam Gate area after it arrested the main accused Mohammad Kaleem on 9th June 2023. The arrest was made based on a complaint filed by the shelter’s caretaker Sandeep Sagar, who accused Kaleem of exerting pressure on him to embrace Islam and enticing him with promises of a government job and financial incentives.
The Delhi police probing the case have revealed that accused Md Kaleem had created five Whatsapp groups where he use to share Islamic propaganda videos and audio to radicalise the people who were seeking shelter at the Rain Basera or at the night shelters in Delhi and then either coerce them or force them to convert to Islam. These WhatsApp groups were created in the name of welfare programs to mislead people into conversion.
The Delhi Police are now interrogating the WhatsApp group members. Additionally, the Delhi police are also going through Kaleem’s bank accounts to ascertain whether he was receiving foreign funding to facilitate the conversion racket.
The news that religious propaganda items were discovered on Kaleem’s mobile was released to the media by DCP Central Sanjay Kumar Sain. He said that the probe has revealed that the accused was associated with WhatsApp groups that he used to spread religious propaganda. Kaleem was the group administrator for these groups. Several pictures, videos and radical propaganda literature have also been found in Kaleem’s phone gallery.
Kaleem is currently in police custody and will be placed in detention and interrogated if necessary, said the DCP.
#WATCH जांच में पता लगा कि जिस व्यक्ति का संदर्भ हुआ था वह व्यक्ति पहले हिंदू था अब मुस्लिम नाम है। इसे इसके घरवालों ने घर से निकाल दिया था। आगे की जांच में और जानकारी पता चलेगी: कथित धर्मांतरण की धमकी की प्राथमिकी पर संजय कुमार सैन, डीसीपी सेंट्रल-दिल्ली pic.twitter.com/QoLUUduhHN
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According to the employees of the night shelter, Kaleem used to pay a visit there looking for needy and distressed individuals, whom he then brainwashed and tried to convert to Islam by luring them with government jobs and money.
धर्मांतरण की साजिश का नया मामला दिल्ली से आया सामने…कलीम नाम का शख्स गरीब और कमजोर लोगों को निशाने पर लेकर रच रहा था धर्मांतरण की बड़ी साजिश…#delhi pic.twitter.com/MyQgcPywru
— News18 Uttar Pradesh (@News18UP) June 12, 2023
The police investigation has also revealed that Kalim used to befriend new people on social media. Later he used to send religious literature etc. to these people with an intention to radicalise and subsequently convert them to Islam.
धर्मांतरण की साजिश का नया मामला दिल्ली से आया सामने…कलीम नाम का शख्स गरीब और कमजोर लोगों को निशाने पर लेकर रच रहा था धर्मांतरण की बड़ी साजिश…#delhi pic.twitter.com/MyQgcPywru
— News18 Uttar Pradesh (@News18UP) June 12, 2023
It may be noted that the shelter’s caretaker Sandeep Sagar, in his complaint had said that the accused allegedly made derogatory remarks about the Hindu religion and promoted its boycott by sharing religious videos on YouTube. In response to these allegations, the Delhi Police have filed a case against the accused and subsequently apprehended him. The accused has been charged under Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the complaint, Kaleem allegedly compelled the caretaker to recite Islamic phrases before commencing work and would show YouTube videos promoting the Islamic religion. He reportedly made derogatory remarks about Hinduism, suggesting it lacked uniqueness, and advocated for the boycott of the Hindu faith through these videos. Moreover, it is alleged that Mohammad Kaleem promised the caretaker marriage, a sum of Rs 1 lakh, and assistance in securing a government job if the caretaker converted to Islam.
Accused Md Kaleem threatened to get people beheaded if they would not convert to Islam
Sandeep Sagar also revealed that when he refused to accede to Kaleem’s conversion demands, he filed a false case of theft against him. Kaleem accused Sandeep of stealing his mobile phone and cash and also threatened to implicate him in other cases as well.
Kaleem allegedly threatened to get people beheaded if they would not convert to Islam and referred to India as the Islamic nation of the future. He also used to show videos of the Indian fugitive and radical Islamist preacher Zakir Naik to radicalise youths and coerce them to convert to Islam.
As per the caretaker Sandeep Sagar, Mohammad Kaleem allegedly converted a young man named Sanjeev Kumar, who now goes by the name Abbas. Additionally, Kaleem was exerting pressure on two other individuals, Sujit Kumar and Vicky Sharma, to embrace Islam under his influence.
