NGO members assaulted in Indore over suspicion of religious conversion
The alleged incident took place outside the Indore Press Club where about eight members of an NGO, Howl Group, had come to hold a press conference.
While the local police intervened to stop the assault, Indore Additional DCP, Zone 3, Ramsanehi Mishra, told The Hindu that no formal complaint was received at the local police station.
According to the NGO, it has been working in various sectors such as education and health in Shukrawasa village in neighbouring Dewas district.
In a statement, Howl Group said that a 'misinformation campaign' had been going on against it for a few months in Dewas after which the NGO had called a press conference to respond to the allegations.
Local reports from Indore, however, said a group of right-wing activists assaulted NGO founder Sourav Banerjee and other members, including women, alleging that they had been running a 'conversion racket' in the village to convert locals into Christianity.
After this, as the NGO members prepared to go to a police station, they were attacked again, with the right-wing activists also blackening the faces of some members. A purported video of the incident also surfaced on the Internet.
All false, says founder
After the alleged assault, Mr. Banerjee told reporters that the allegations were false.
'We have been working in Shukrawasa, and the suspicion around (religious) conversion is completely baseless. Let them bring even a single person whom our NGO has converted,' he said, while accusing the right-wing members of attacking his team without any evidence.
Dewas Additional SP (Rural) Harnarayn Batham said parents of some of the students working with the NGO had alleged that their children have been 'brainwashed' by the group members.
'The police are investigating the matter. We will take appropriate action after examining all facts of the matter,' he said.
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