At centre of UP’s ‘large conversion racket’, a two-time pradhan, a search for ‘victims’

Apart from Jamaluddin and Neetu, his son Mehboob and her husband Naveen, who also took on the name Jamaluddin after conversion, are under arrest, with police looking for others. Police say that Neetu and Naveen, originally from Mumbai, moved to Madhpur with their daughter, purchased land and built the big house where Jamaluddin came to live with them.

On complaints against Jamaluddin of forced conversion, and the identities of his alleged “victims”, police say they are still investigating the matter. An officer said it was too early to say anything. “We are conducting a thorough inquiry. Information about those whose conversion was carried out will be released only after the investigation is concluded.”

Uttar Pradesh conversion racket: Partially demolish old house of Jhangur Baba at Rehramafi village of Utraula in Balrampur District. (Express Photo/Vishal Srivastav)

Both Madhpur and Rehra Maafi, Jamaluddin’s native village located 2 km away, incidentally, are Muslim-dominated villages.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash says they made the arrests after gathering “substantial evidence”, and are investigating the activities and financial transactions and assets of “Jamaluddin’s gang”.

Commenting on the case in a post on X, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his government was “fully committed to ensuring the dignity and safety of women and girls”, and that Jamaluddin’s activities were “anti-social” and “anti-national”.

Addressing a public meeting in Azamgarh last week, Adityanath said his government had arrested a “jallad (monster)” in Balrampur.

The man

Jamaluddin is the eldest of four children of Kareem Ullah Shah, a farm labourer. The Indian Express found no family members in Rehra Maafi when it visited, including Jamaluddin’s wife, with villagers saying the family left hurriedly after the allegations against him surfaced.

The residents of both Rehra Maafi and Madhpur are sceptical of the police allegations against Jamaluddin, a two-time village pradhan. However, his sudden and “swift” rise to riches has been a matter of much speculation here.

Until not so long ago, villagers say, Jamaluddin used to trade in trinkets, going door to door to sell them in the area. The revelations about the Madhpur house – built over 4 bighas of land, featuring multiple rooms and a cowshed, with luxury vehicles parked on the premises – have them stumped.

Police have refused to speak about the assets recovered from Jamaluddin.

“We have no idea of his source of income, but we can say everything changed in the last few years,” says Mohammad Abid of Rehra Maafi village. In this time, ‘Chhangur’, the nickname given to Jamaluddin by villagers as he had six fingers in his right hand, became ‘Chhangur Baba’, claim police.

They also allege that Jamaluddin projected himself as ‘Pir Baba’ and ‘Sufi Basafa Hazrat Baba Jalaluddin’, and published a book titled Shijra-e-Tayyaba, promoting Islamic teachings. Villagers in Madhpur and Rehra Maafi claim ignorance about this.

Uttar Pradesh conversion racket: ATS holding an investigation at Jhangur Baba’s New House at Utraula. (Express Photo/Vishal Srivastav)

Madhpur villagers say that they barely had any interaction with Jamaluddin or the couple who lived with him, as they kept to themselves. Nor did they see many people coming or leaving the house, so as to raise suspicions.

Agreeing to meet The Indian Express after much persuasion, Jamaluddin’s nephew, Riyazuddin Shah, 25, says his uncle studied only till Class 3 and made a living hawking fake jewellery, selling it first from a bicycle and later a motorcycle.

In 2005, fortunes smiled when Jamaluddin was elected the Rehra Maafi pradhan. Villagers say Jamaluddin took active interest in the affairs of the panchayat and curtailed his travels. “People started coming to him for guidance,” says a villager.

In 2010 though, Jamaluddin lost the pradhan post. When he resumed working, he started travelling to Mumbai to sell his trinkets. Initially, he would return every two to three months, says Riyazuddin, who works as a farm labourer. But over time, his visits became infrequent.

Come 2015, Jamaluddin’s wife Kutbun Nisha won the village pradhan election, and again he started spending longer periods at home, running the panchayat affairs on Kutbun’s behalf.

In 2020, the family lost the pradhan seat again, and Jamaluddin was back spending most of his time in Mumbai, says current Rehra Maafi pradhan Mansa Ram Yadav. He adds that no one in the village knew what Jamaluddin did in Mumbai.

In Madhpur, villagers recall Neetu and Naveen visiting around four years back, and purchasing 4 bighas of land from a local with the help of Jamaluddin. Gradually, they built the large house that is now at the heart of the police investigation. Police say the house is in the name of Neetu.

Madhpur village pradhan Amarnath Verma says: “No one had any idea what went on inside the house because they hardly had any visitors.”

A villager, Arun Kumar, adds: “We rarely saw any of those living in the house outside, or interacting with people. Jamaluddin would step out only in a vehicle.”

The investigation

Police claim they first stumbled upon Jamaluddin when they got a tip-off about some “suspicious persons” living in Madhpur, while investigating an illegal conversion case registered last year at the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) Police Station in Lucknow.

The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, prohibits religious conversion through “unlawful” means, and includes punishment up to life, with any person allowed to file a complaint.

According to police, soon after they began their probe, Jamaluddin went into hiding, and they obtained a non-bailable warrant plus announced a Rs 50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

As part of the racket, police say, poor and vulnerable non-Muslims, including widows, were systematically targeted, and coerced into converting through allurements, financial assistance, and false promises of marriage. Those who refused were allegedly threatened with false legal cases.

They had “fixed rates” for conversion as per police, based on caste – Rs 15-16 lakh for converting a Brahmin, Sardar, or Kshatriya Hindu woman; Rs 10-12 lakh per women from backward castes; and Rs 8-10 lakh for those from other castes.

Uttar Pradesh conversion racket: About the Madhpur house, the Balrampur district administration says it was some time ago that they initiated action against its owners for encroaching on government land. (Express Photo/Vishal Srivastav)

Among Jamaluddin’s first successful converts, allegedly, were the Mumbai-based Neetu, Naveen and their daughter. Police say Jamaluddin “brainwashed” the Sindhi family into converting to Islam.

However, police have not shared any information on whether any of their relatives filed a complaint of forced conversion.

Jamaluddin’s “gang” is similarly said to have converted Gunja Gupta, a Lucknow native. She was allegedly first lured into a fake relationship by an “Abu Ansari”, claiming to be “Amit”. Gunja allegedly converted to Islam and took on the name Alina Ansari.

Police claim that Abu Ansari took Gunja to a dargah near the Madhpur house, where the accused convinced her to convert to Islam. However, no other details regarding Gunja are available.

Police claim to have evidence of the members of the alleged racket travelling to “Islamic countries” nearly 40 times and opening over 40 bank accounts, in their own names or in the names of organisations. These accounts allegedly saw transactions amounting to around Rs 100 crore.

Police claim Jamaluddin’s involvement was established based on evidence found as well as the statements of Naveen and Mehboob, who were arrested in April.

The Enforcement Directorate has now launched a money laundering investigation into the case.

About the Madhpur house, the Balrampur district administration says it was some time ago that they initiated action against its owners for encroaching on government land. Balrampur District Magistrate Pavan Agarwal said the portion encroaching on government land now stands demolished.