News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh ATS

  • Uttar Pradesh ATS makes one more arrest in religious conversion case

    By PTI

    NOIDA: The Anti Terrorist Squad of the Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday said it has arrested one more accused in connection with the illegal religious conversion case, taking the number of arrests in the matter to 16.

    The latest arrest is that of a Delhi-based man, who was held from Noida on Saturday, after it was found that he was in contact with others involved in the conversion syndicate, the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) said.

    “Accused Abdullah Umar Gautam, who lived in Jamia Nagar area of Delhi, was constantly in touch with the people who have been arrested in the past in connection with the conversion case. He would distribute the funds received from foreign countries among the converted people,” the ATS said in a statement.

    “He was connected to other accused, including Jahangir Alam, Kausar Alam, Faraz Shah, and looked after the work of Al-Farukhi Madrasa and Mosque and running of the Islamic Dawah Centre in Delhi, both of which were managed by his father cleric Umar Gautam,” the agency said.

    So far, 16 people, including key accused clerics Umar Gautam, Kaleem Siddiqui, have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in connection with the case lodged at the ATS Police Station in Lucknow, officials said.

    Around half a dozen accused are from Maharashtra network of the syndicate, they added.

    According to the ATS, bank account details of Abdullah Umar Gautam showed receipt of money from the same foreign sources as did the accounts of his father Umar Gautam.

    “An amount of Rs 75 lakh was credited to Abdullah’s accounts from various sources so far, of which Rs 17 lakh came from foreign locations. This fund was used by him, his father and other associates to distribute among converted people,” the ATS said.

    The illegal religious conversion syndicate being probed by the UP police has links in multiple states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, the officials said.

    Funding for the syndicate has been received from foreign locations, including the US, the UK and Gulf countries through hawala and other illegal channels, the officials added.

  • Hundreds protest in Thane against Islamic scholar’s arrest in Uttar Pradesh, eviction drive in Assam

    By PTI

    THANE: Hundreds of people, led by a Muslim organisation, held a protest at Mumbra in Maharashtra’s Thane against the BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Assam over the arrest of an Islamic scholar and the eviction drive in those states respectively.

    The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) recently arrested Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui from Meerut for allegedly running the “biggest conversion syndicate”, while the Assam government carried out an eviction drive in Darrang district against alleged encroachers, largely drawn from the Bengali Muslim community.

    The Ulama Committee Mumbra-Kausa held the protest on Friday against the arrest of Maulana in UP and the eviction drive in Assam, terming both these actions as “illegal”. A large number of women were also took part in the protest carrying placards, banners and shouting slogans.

    After the agitation, the protesters submitted a memorandum to senior inspector of Mumbra police station, Madhukar Kad, over their demands.

  • Conversion case: Uttar Pradesh ATS gets 10-day remand of Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh ATS on Thursday got a 10-day remand of Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, who was arrested for running a “conversion syndicate”.

    The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had arrested Siddiqui on Tuesday for illegal conversion of people to Islam.

    Siddiqui was produced in a court on Wednesday and the ATS had sought a 10-day custody to probe the case, ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

    The Special Additional District and Session Court (NIA/ATS) awarded the custody after going through evidence presented by the prosecution, the officer said.

    The remand period will start at 10 am from September 24.

    Maulana Siddiqui will be interrogated to get more information from him about his links, he said.

    Siddiqui, a well-known Islamic scholar from Meerut, was arrested three months after Delhi’s Jamia Nagar residents Mufti Qazi Jahangir Alam Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam were apprehended by the ATS.

    Qasmi and Gautam were running Islamic Dawah Centre, an outfit allegedly working on the ISI funding for converting deaf-mute students to Islam, according to officials.

    The ATS has so far arrested 10 people in connection with the conversion racket, Kumar said.

    Those arrested were booked under relevant sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2020 and the Indian Penal Code, as per officials.