Ghaziabad pastor arrested for ‘religious conversion’: Confirming claims, say police

DCP, Ghaziabad (Rural), Surendra Nath Tiwari, told The Indian Express that the police have not found anyone who claimed they were converted by the pastor. He said police are exploring the angle of monetary transactions to check the allegations made in the FIR.

Station House Officer (SHO), Crossings Republik, Preeti Garg, said they are trying to confirm if the pastor was allegedly offering inducements to people to get them to convert. “So far, we do not have anyone to confirm the allegations. We are also looking into what kind of inducements were being offered… if it was monetary or a promise to cure their bodily ailments,” the SHO said.

According to police, Vinod, who hails from Kerala and lives in Sahibabad, said during questioning that he had only been conducting prayers at Jatav’s house in Rahul Vihar.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Wave City, Priyashri Pal, had earlier said the arrests were made after police received a complaint from Gupta at the Crossings Republik police station last Sunday.

Gupta, a resident of Krishna Nagar Bagu in Ghaziabad, in his complaint alleged that around 7 pm on June 15, his workers informed him that Vinod, along with Jatav, was forcibly converting people belonging to the Scheduled Caste and others by offering them inducements.

“When I reached Premchand’s house with my workers, I saw them conducting a programme to convert people. When my workers and I protested, they abused, threatened, and assaulted us,” he alleged in the FIR.

“The Father (pastor) has been converting people in large numbers,” Gupta told the police.

Police had registered the FIR under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(3) (threats involving death), 352 (breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and a relevant section of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.

Neighbours, however, had said there was no conversion and only prayers were held every Sunday at Jatav’s house.