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Indian Express
5 days ago
- Indian Express
‘Religious conversion': 10 held from six states
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday claimed to have busted a network allegedly indulging in illegal religious conversions with the arrest of 10 people from six states in connection with its probe into abduction of two sisters from Agra in March this year. Police said during the investigation into the abduction of the sisters, aged 33 and 18, they found evidence indicating the involvement of a group operating across multiple states. Uttar Pradesh DGP Rajeev Krishna confirmed the arrest of 10 people. The police traced the Agra sisters to a house in Kolkata on Friday and they were rescued in presence of their family members, said a police officer. Police said the accused would allegedly lure young women, particularly minors, across states through deceitful means for religious conversion and were receiving funds from Canada and other countries to run their operations. Police said preliminary investigations suggest the group's link with organisations like PFI, SDPI and some extremist groups in Pakistan. In the process of tracing the sisters, the Agra police detected the network of a group and secured non-bailable warrants against the accused. Eleven teams were dispatched to different states, including West Bengal, Goa, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, to make the arrests, police said. Those arrested – all aged between 18 years and 35 years — have been identified as Ayesha alias S B Krishna from Goa; Ali Hasan alias Shekhar Roy, Ritwanik and Osama from Kolkata; Rahman Qureshi from Agra; Abu Talib from Muzaffarnagar; Abdur Rahman alias Rupendra Singh from Dehradun; Mohammad Ali and Junaid Qureshi from Rajasthan; and Mustafa alias Manoj from Delhi. The accused were engaged in various occupations, ranging from private and government jobs to running businesses. One of their associates is abroad, police said. According to the police, the accused were playing varied roles such as arranging and distributing funds, offering safe houses, providing legal assistance, supplying new phones and SIM cards, preparing documents for religious conversion, etc. Police said the number of religious conversions undertaken by the network would be clear after the questioning of the accused. Agra Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar said they have obtained a 10-day police custody of the accused from an Agra court. DGP Krishna said the fresh arrests were part of the 'Mission Asmita', under which two persons, named Mohammad Umar Gautam and Jahangir Alam Qasmi, were arrested earlier for their involvement in religious conversions. Recently, Jamaluddin alias Chhangur Baba and his associates were arrested for running an illegal conversion racket in Balrampur district.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Indian Express
UP Police arrests 10 from 6 states for running ‘religious conversion racket'
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday claimed to have busted a network allegedly indulging in illegal religious conversions with the arrest of 10 people from six states in connection with its probe into abduction of two sisters from Agra in March this year. Police said during the investigation into the abduction of the sisters, aged 33 and 18, they found evidence indicating the involvement of a group operating across multiple states. Uttar Pradesh DGP Rajeev Krishna confirmed the arrest of 10 people. The police traced the Agra sisters to a house in Kolkata on Friday and they were rescued in presence of their family members, said a police officer. Police said the accused would allegedly lure young women, particularly minors, across states through deceitful means for religious conversion and were receiving funds from Canada and other countries to run their operations. Police said preliminary investigations suggest the group's link with organisations like PFI, SDPI and some extremist groups in Pakistan. In the process of tracing the sisters, the Agra police detected the network of a group and secured non-bailable warrants against the accused. Eleven teams were dispatched to different states, including West Bengal, Goa, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, to make the arrests, police said. Those arrested – all aged between 18 years and 35 years — have been identified as Ayesha alias S B Krishna from Goa; Ali Hasan alias Shekhar Roy, Ritwanik and Osama from Kolkata; Rahman Qureshi from Agra; Abu Talib from Muzaffarnagar; Abdur Rahman alias Rupendra Singh from Dehradun; Mohammad Ali and Junaid Qureshi from Rajasthan; and Mustafa alias Manoj from Delhi. The accused were engaged in various occupations, ranging from private and government jobs to running businesses. One of their associates is abroad, police said. According to the police, the accused were playing varied roles such as arranging and distributing funds, offering safe houses, providing legal assistance, supplying new phones and SIM cards, preparing documents for religious conversion, etc. Police said the number of religious conversions undertaken by the network would be clear after the questioning of the accused. Agra Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar said they have obtained a 10-day police custody of the accused from an Agra court. DGP Krishna said the fresh arrests were part of the 'Mission Asmita', under which two persons, named Mohammad Umar Gautam and Jahangir Alam Qasmi, were arrested earlier for their involvement in religious conversions. Recently, Jamaluddin alias Chhangur Baba and his associates were arrested for running an illegal conversion racket in Balrampur district. Given the gravity of these incidents, specialized units of the UP Police, including the Special Task Force (STF) and the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), have been roped in to assist with the ongoing investigation, Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna said.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
Inter-state ‘love jihad' racket busted, 10 operatives held
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh police's investigation into the disappearance of two sisters, aged 33 and 18, in Agra has uncovered an inter-state 'love jihad' network engaged in illegal religious conversions and radicalisation, supported by a nexus of banned outfits PFI and SDPI, Pakistan-based handlers, and foreign funding. The breakthrough led to a coordinated crackdown and the arrest of 10 operatives across six states, including fresh arrests on Saturday, police said. Two men, Shekhar Roy and Osama from Kolkata, allegedly trapped and converted the two sisters. Their arrest led to the unravelling of the wider network and the subsequent arrest of SB Krishna from Goa, Rehman Qureshi from Agra, Mohammed Ali, Junaid Qureshi, and Ali from Jaipur, Abu Talib from Muzaffarnagar, Manoj from Delhi, and Abur Rehman from Dehradun. An Agra court has remanded all the accused to police custody for ten days. UP DGP Rajeev Krishna told reporters in Lucknow that the network operated using "love jihad" tactics, online radicalisation, and foreign funding from Canada, the USA, Dubai, and London. "The network was funnelling money through the dark web and adopting tactics resembling the signature style of ISIS," he said. "In the past, under this mission, UP ATS arrested Umar Gautam and Mufti Jahangir Alam in 2021 for running a pan-India religious conversion racket. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Eine zielgerichtete Strategie für Ihre finanzielle Zukunft eToro Click Here Undo Both were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024," said a senior police official. Agra Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, told reporters in Lucknow that the investigation began after an FIR was lodged in March regarding the sisters' disappearance. "When we dug deeper, a pan-India syndicate surfaced. Forty-five teams were sent to Goa, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan, based on surveillance," he said. "We made arrests and found that the network allegedly targeted vulnerable women through emotional manipulation, promoted radicalisation via curated content, and facilitated conversions with necessary documentation. It provided safe houses, managed foreign funds from Canada and the US, and offered operational support, including new phones, SIM cards, legal assistance, and internal communication channels," added Kumar.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
SDPI protests eviction of Muslims in Assam
Madurai: Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) held a demonstration in Madurai on Saturday condemning the BJP govt in Assam over alleged forced eviction and targeted bulldozing of homes of Muslim minority families there. The protesters, led by SDPI district president, Madurai south, Seeman Sikkandar, gathered at Obula Padithurai and shouted slogans. "The eviction for Adani group's thermal power plant is being done by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's govt without prior notice with bull dozers destroying homes of around 2,000 Bengali-speaking Muslim families. These families are being given just Rs 50,000 as compensation for the land where they lived for years," said S Najma Begum, state secretary, SDPI. The protesters said the Modi govt was increasingly favouring corporates.
Express Tribune
14-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
IMF sees growth ahead for Pakistan
IMF Pakistan's Representative Mahir Binici (left) at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad on July 13, 2025. Photo: APP Listen to article A senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said on Sunday that growth across the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) region and Pakistan was expected to strengthen in 2025 and beyond, despite "exceptional uncertainty" that could weigh on the global economic outlook. In a comprehensive guest lecture at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), IMF Resident Representative for Pakistan Mahir Binici, cautioned against elevated trade tensions, geopolitical fragmentation and weakening global cooperation. Binici, according to a press release issued here, reaffirmed the continued IMF support for Pakistan's economic and climate reform agenda and underlined the urgent need for prudent and forward-looking policy actions. Focusing on Pakistan, Binici noted that the country's performance under the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) had been "strong so far," adding that the successful completion of the first review by the IMF Executive Board in May 2025 was a key milestone. Binici emphasised that structural reforms remained central to Pakistan's long-term economic sustainability, particularly reforms that strengthened tax equity, improve business climate, and encourage private-sector-led investment. "Early policy measures have helped restore macroeconomic stability and rebuild investor confidence, despite persistent external challenges," he said. He also highlighted Pakistan's progress on climate-related reforms under the IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). He said that key areas of reform under the RSF included enhancing public investment planning, promoting efficient and sustainable use of water resources, improving institutional coordination for disaster preparedness and financing, expanding availability and transparency of climate-related data. The press released said that Binici stressed that the support through "the RSF will not only strengthen Pakistan's climate resilience but also help unlock green investments and foster a more climate-conscious economic trajectory." The lecture was followed by a discussion on fiscal and monetary policy frameworks, external buffers, and the role of international institutions. Earlier, SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri dilated on multilateral cooperation in Pakistan's journey toward sustainable development. (WITH INPUT FROM APP)
