‘I am innocent’: Chhangur Baba refutes religious conversion allegations
Chhangur Baba is accused of masterminding a large-scale religious conversion racket in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur.
Jalaluddin Shah alias Chhangur Baba, the main accused in the religious conversion nexus in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur, has addressed the allegations against him for the first time, saying that he is innocent.
Chhangur Baba and his close associate Neetu Naveen Rohra alias Nasreen were taken for a medical examination at a Community Health Centre where he addressed the media briefly and said, “I am innocent. I don't know anything,” reported ANI news agency.
Chhangur Baba is accused of masterminding a large-scale religious conversion racket in Uttar Pradesh. He is being interrogated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police for the religious conversion allegations against him. The Enforcement Directorate has also joined the probe after some preliminary findings pointed to his racket receiving a foreign funding of about ₹106 crore, mainly from the Middle East and illegal assets across states.
Last week, the ATS took Chhangur Baba to Balrampur’s Madhpur village, the place where he allegedly operated his racket from. He was taken to a sprawling bungalow there, which allegedly belongs to his associates, in order to extract details about the alleged religious conversion activities that happened there, according to ATS officials.
According to local authorities, the bungalow was illegally constructed and its demolition process started last Wednesday. They added that the ATS team stayed there for around 45 minutes.
Chhangur Baba also faces a money laundering charge after the ED’s Lucknow zonal office registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on an FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh ATS.
Shocking revelations have emerged about how the conversion racket allegedly operated. According to some police officials privy to the probe, people who visited ‘dargahs’ for fulfillment of wishes were seen as easy targets for religious conversion. Such people’s wishes ranged from financial success and professional growth to the desire to have children and cure long-term illness.
The officials added that some Hindu women and families with liberal religious beliefs were also on the radar of the conversion nexus for gradually brainwashing them to convert to Islam.
