Uttar Pradesh police busted a major Christian conversion racket going on inside a house in Arusha village of Ahiraula police station area in Azamgarh, on Thursday (10th April). More than 30 men and women had reportedly gathered in the house where the conversion activity was taking place. Police have arrested the owner of the house, Gulabchand and his wife, Bandeyi.
Conversion racket busted in UP’s Azamgarh
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) April 11, 2025
Women and men called in name of ‘prayers for the sick’, instead being taught Bible with claims that Yeshu heals all sick people by miracle
Soon, they will be told Dharmic symbols are shaitaan that interfere in miracle
It’s Arusha… pic.twitter.com/Bpfr3EXOMp
Villagers have alleged that some outsiders are involved in the conversion activity. The locals were reportedly being lured with money and job offers to convert to Christianity. They were also being instructed not to worship Hindu deities. The conversion activity has reportedly been going on for a long time and was busted after a local named Happy Singh filed a complaint with the police. The police reached the house on the complaint and recovered a Bible along with some pamphlets. An FIR was registered against the couple, and the husband was taken for questioning.
आरोपी के विरुद्ध थाना अहरौला सुसंगत धाराओं में अभियोग पंजीकृत है, अभियोग से संबंधित एक आरोपी को पुलिस हिरासत में लिया गया है, अग्रिम कार्यवाही प्रचलित है।
— AZAMGARH POLICE (@azamgarhpolice) April 11, 2025
Ahiraula SHO Anil Kumar Singh said that the police acted swiftly on the complaint of the villagers. An investigation has been going on in the matter. As per the FIR accessed by OpIndia, Happy Singh alleged that a religious function was going on in Gulabchand’s house on 10th April. He, along with his friend Abhishek, went to attend the religious function. However, on reaching there, they found out that around 20 men and women had gathered there and they were being instructed by Bandeyi to convert to Christianity. They were being lured through superstitious activities and money. When Happy Singh and his friend Abhishek opposed this, they were given death threats. They were also allegedly asked to convert to Christianity and were offered money to keep quiet. Thereafter, Happy Singh and Abhishek left the place and informed the police about it.
The FIR has been lodged under sections 3, 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, and section 351(3) of the BNSS.
Earlier incidents of religious conversion in Azamgarh
This is not the first time that an incident of religious conversion has been reported from Azamgarh. Similar instances of religious conversion have come to light from the area in the past. In October last year, police raided a house in the Kandharapur area of Miria Redha village, Azamgarh, on the complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party District Vice President Harivansh Mishra. A mass conversion event was going on in the house. Police seized objectionable materials, including religious books, from the house. A case was filed by the police, and the accused, named Rajaram Yadav, was arrested.
A few weeks before this incident, another Christian conversion racket was busted by police in Kandharapur and Maharajganj. A conversion was being carried out in the name of healing. Three individuals were arrested by the police for persuading people to convert to Christianity by promising miraculous cures.
In a similar incident, the Azamgarh police in Uttar Pradesh busted a conversion racket on July 30, 2022, by arresting six women who were attempting to convert vulnerable villagers to Christianity. According to reports, the racket was being carried out under the guise of a birthday party.
