Arrested Rampur trader’s family claims youth converted years ago, police trying to invoke new law to frame him

A case was registered against Rashid under provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, on the complaint of Satyam’s mother Manju Devi.

On Sunday, Rashid was produced in a court that sent him to judicial custody.

Rashid’s family said Satyam, who now identifies himself as Sameer, adopted Islam long ago and all necessary rituals and formalities such as making his Aadhaar card under the new name were completed way back.

Rashid’s nephew Sharukh said, “His Aadhaar card with Sameer’s name was made nearly a decade back. The police are levelling false allegations to frame my uncle under the new anti-conversion law. The law would not apply if they say Sameer got converted before the Act came into existence.”

“Sameer went to his parents a few times but came back to us. This time, his parents have filed a case, falsely accusing my uncle,” he added.

Rampur Additional Superintendent of Police Atul Kumar Srivastava, however, refuted these claims, stating that the conversion rituals were performed recently. “We are gathering evidence on this. The investigation is going on,” he said.

Sources indicated that the police are also looking into when Satyam’s Aadhaar card, by the name of Sameer, was issued. On Monday night, Satyam returned to his parents’ home in Hapur with his mother Manju Devi under police protection.

The police said he was earlier hesitant to return to Rampur since he was questioned by many people during a previous visit, making him uncomfortable. “Satyam has been trying to return to Rampur ever since he came home. He keeps giving different reasons, claiming he has invested a lot of money in a business with Rashid in Uttarakhand,” said Manju Devi whose husband Rama Nand Rai works with a private firm in Hapur.

“Early this morning, Satyam left home without informing anyone. When I saw he wasn’t around, I alerted the family and our neighbours. Then we found him at the Hapur railway station waiting for a train. We’ve been trying to convince him to stay with us,” added Devi, who does odd jobs to earn a living.

Devi had on Friday lodged the FIR, saying Satyam left home in 2005 after being scolded. When the family couldn’t find him, they filed a missing case at a police station in Rampur. But in 2017, Satyam returned to Hapur and informed his parents that he had gone to Delhi, where he met Rashid while working at a shop. At that time, Rashid was running a tea shop in the national capital. Rashid then took Satyam to his home in Rampur, where he has been living since.

“Satyam stayed with us for three months. I checked his bag and found an Aadhaar card with his photo, but the name of ‘Sameer’ and the address was of Rampur. During his stay, I enrolled him in a school and everything seemed fine till Rashid and others started pressuring him to leave. Then one day, he left us again,” Devi said.

Since then, she regularly visited Rampur in an attempt to bring her son back, Devi said, adding, “In 2022, my relatives and I went to Rashid’s house in Rampur and brought Satyam home, but he returned a while later. Rashid lured my son with money and converted him. I went to the police in Rampur and Hapur, but no one was willing to file a case.”

While living in Rampur, Satyam was in regular contact with his younger brother Shivam Rai (21), she further said.