Religious conversion racket: Naveen Rohra key to exposing Chhangur Baba's money trail, says ED

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

Naveen Rohra, who once ran a shipment agency in Dubai, could expose key financial transactions related to the Balrampur religious conversion and money-laundering racket allegedly run by Jalaluddin Shah alias Chhangur Baba, according to senior Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials investigating the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The focus shifted to Naveen Rohra during Chhangur Baba's interrogation. (File Photo)
The officials said that Naveen Rohra, who converted to Islam and adopted the name Jamaluddin, is the husband of Neetu alias Nasreen, who was arrested along with Chhangur Baba by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad on July 5.
Prior to their arrest, Naveen Rohra and Chhangur Baba's son Mehboob were nabbed by the UP ATS on April 8 earlier this year. However, the information was not disclosed to the media at that time. The matter came to light after the arrest of Chhangur Baba and Nasreen.
Much like the ATS, the ED, which joined the investigation into money laundering after the arrest of Chhangur Baba on July 8, also realised belatedly that Naveen Rohra could be the key person to extract details about the financial transaction and expose the money-laundering racket operational in the garb of the alleged religious conversion nexus. The focus shifted to Naveen Rohra during the kingpin's interrogation.
'We have applied for the custody remand of Naveen Rohra in the competent court. The court is likely to grant his custody remand on the next hearing scheduled for Monday,' a senior ED official confirmed.
'His name came up during the interrogation of Chhangur Baba and even Nasreen, leading us to believe he handled a large portion of the financial transactions,' he added.
A senior official said that though it is a perception that Chhangur Baba had been using Naveen Rohra and his wife Neetu Rohra for money laundering and to channel funds from foreign countries, it is suspected that the couple just used the religious clout of Chhangur Baba to smoothly operate the money-laundering nexus.
Chhangur Baba is accused of being the kingpin of a large-scale conversion syndicate that targeted economically backward individuals from the Hindu community, particularly those from the Scheduled Caste category.
So far, the ED investigation has revealed that Chhangur Baba's network received approximately ₹60 crore in foreign funding, which was used for illegal conversions and other activities. The ED had previously conducted raids at 15 locations, seizing documents and digital devices that suggested money laundering and hawala transactions.
The ED is investigating foreign bank accounts linked to Chhangur Baba and his associates. The agency aims to identify properties purchased using proceeds from the alleged crimes. Chhangur Baba's network is suspected to have operated across multiple cities, including Balrampur, Chennai, Mumbai, Nepal and Dubai.