In a major crackdown on a vicious inter-state Islamic conversion racket in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, the police nabbed four individuals linked with the conversion racket on Monday (25th August). The arrested individuals have been identified as Abdul Majeed (35), Salman Raza (30), Mohammad Arif (29), and Mohammad Faheem(24). Another suspect named Mehmood Beg is said to be on the run.
According to the police, a tip-off was received at Bhuta police station from an Aligarh-based woman named Akhilesh Kumari, who said that some people have been luring her visually-impaired son Prabhat Upadhyay, with a marriage offer to convert him to Islam. She said that when she tried to stop the religious conversion of her son, she received death threats. On her indication, a team of police reached Faiznagar Madrassa and foiled the plan to convert the victim.
Inside the Madrassa, the police team found that the four accused were sitting around Prabhat Upadhyay, wearing skull caps, and were preparing to circumcise him to convert him to Islam. When the police team called the victim by his name, Prabhat, he said that his name was Hamid. On being questioned by the police, Prabhat Upadhyay revealed his real name. Police arrested all four accused and handed over Upadhyay to his family.
थाना भुता बरेली पुलिस द्वारा थाना भुता पर पंजीकृत मु0अ0सं0 377/2025 धारा 140(3)/351(3) बीएनएस व 3/5(1) उ0प्र0 विधि विरुद्ध धर्म संपरिवर्तन प्रतिषेध अधिनियम, 2021 से संबंधित 04 अभियुक्तों की गिरफ्तारी एवं बरामदगी के संबंध में सुश्री अंशिका वर्मा #SP South बरेली की बाइट।#UPPolice https://t.co/hOveW3QedX pic.twitter.com/YSnPOiNzS3
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) August 26, 2025
A case has been registered by the police under Sections 140(3)/351(3) of the BNS and Section 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The police seized several incriminating materials from the possession of the accused and the victim, including religious literature promoting conversion, CDs containing videos of fugitive Islamist preacher Zakir Naik, skull caps, garlands, and a first aid box containing blades, mobiles, laptops, and conversion certificates.
The gang converted an entire Hindu family to Islam
Addressing the media, SP Bareilly South, Anshika Verma, said that the conversion certificates found in possession of the accused revealed that an entire Hindu family was converted by the gang to Islam. The conversion certificates showed that a man named Brijpal Sahu was converted to Islam and renamed Abdullah. His mother, Usha Rani, was renamed Amina after conversion to Islam. His sister Rajkumari was converted to Islam, renamed Ayesha and married to a Muslim man. In addition to that, the police were led to a minor victim of religious conversion during the investigation of the case. However, the police were able to prevent the religious conversion of the minor victim by stopping his circumcision.
According to SP Verma, an examination of the bank accounts of the accused revealed that they had been running some scheme to collect funds. Abdul Majid, who is the prime accused in the case, ran a religious conversion scheme and travelled across India to collect funds. He is said to have travelled to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. All the arrested accused operated around 21 bank accounts.
Targeted vulnerable individuals and brainwashed them
The gang targeted vulnerable Hindus, particularly poor, unmarried youth, and those with disabilities, for religious conversion by luring them with marriage proposals and money. The gang’s operations are spread across 13 states and 30 districts. Their modus operandi included Salman, a tailor by profession, visiting Hindu families on the pretext of offering help or introducing them to Muslim girls. He was assisted by Faheem, a hairdresser, who identified potential targets out of people who visited his shop. Once they were able to influence a person, they would bring him to the madrassa and brainwash him with religious texts and CDs. The police suspect that the gang has converted a considerable number of people.
This is the sixth Islamic conversion racket busted by the authorities in Uttar Pradesh in this year. Earlier, the authorities, uncovered Islamic conversion rackets, Balrampur, Agra, Prayagraj, Kushinagar, and Aligarh.