Ghaziabad conversion racket: UP STF to investigate the couple for converting people after offering them money

After a couple was recently arrested in the Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh for converting the members of marginalised communities in Ghaziabad by offering them money, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has taken over the investigation into the matter. 

The accused pastor Mahinder Kumar and his wife Seema are residents of Peernagar Sudana in the Hapur district. The action was taken after an FIR was filed based on a complaint that some people were pressing and offering money to needy people in the Modinagar area to convert them to Christianity. The police had also seized three mobile phones during the arrest and are analysing the call details. 

According to authorities, the couple ran a charitable trust called Bethlehem Gospel and was receiving funds from overseas to allegedly convert members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities to Christianity.

According to ACP Modinagar Gyan Prakash Rai, the duo was operating 10 bank accounts in foreign banks, and transactions worth several thousand rupees were discovered during the inquiry. Moreover, Pastor Mahinder Kumar received Rs 30 lakh from foreign sources. Police have also learned of two people from Mumbai and Chennai who were involved in the conversion ring.

According to the police, more than a hundred persons who were baptised by the couple are in contact with them.

On Saturday (July 30), a six-member UP STF team arrived at Modinagar police station and sought details regarding the case and also inquired about the action taken by the police so far.

According to a Live Hindustan report, a person named Ashish had on July 22 lodged a complaint against a mother-son duo in Shahjahanpur. He alleged that the mother and her son Rohit were trying to convert others to Christianity by offering money. However, during the investigation, the role of the mother-son duo in question could not be established. Consequently, the police may grant them a clean chit. Meanwhile, the accused Pastor Mahinder Kumar and his wife Seema have been arrested and incarcerated.