Uttar Pradesh books 54 in conversion case, notices to top brass of university in Prayagraj

The university officials were not available for comment. According to its website, SHUATS was established under UP Act No. 35 of 2016, as passed by the Uttar Pradesh Legislature. “(It) is established and administered by the Ecumenical Minority Christian Society namely the Sam Higginbottom Educational and Charitable Society,” says the website.

The alleged conversion case dates back to April 14 this year, when some Hindu organisations, including the Bajrang Dal, staged a protest outside a church run by the Evangelical Church of India (ECI), in Hariharganj area of Fatehpur, alleging that people were being lured with false promises to convert.

An FIR was registered the next day, on the basis of a complaint filed by a local VHP leader, Himanshu Dixit, in which 35 people, including a minor girl, were named while 20 more were unidentified. Of those named, 22 are employees of the Broadwell Christian Hospital, located near the church.

Twenty-six of the accused, including the pastor of the church, Vijay Masih, 36, were arrested, and later released on bail. Police dropped the charges against the 16-year-old girl named in the FIR as no evidence was found against her.

The case was lodged under IPC Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between two groups), 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating). The police also invoked the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act against the accused.

“Since cheating and forgery could not be established initially, the court dropped IPC Sections 420, 467 and 468 against the accused. The accused were granted bail within two to three days,” said a police officer.

But about four months later, police said two local farmers, identified as Shri Kishan (45) and Satya Pal (42), both Dalits, approached them and claimed that their conversion had taken place in the church in April.

“They claimed to have adopted Christianity after the accused promised jobs, education and houses for them. Meanwhile, three other local residents, identified as Pramod Kumar Dixit, Sanjay Singh and Rajesh Kumar Trivedi, also came forward and filed affidavits stating that the accused tried to convince them to adopt Christianity. All five told police that they were in the church on April 14, but fled before the police arrived,” said a police officer involved in the investigation.

Police said they found that Shri Kishan and Satyapal were renamed as Kishan Joseph and Satyapal Samson, respectively. “We also found Aadhaar cards in the names of Kishan Joseph and Satyapal Samson, prepared on fake documents. The two farmers claimed their new Aadhaar cards were made by the accused,” said the police officer.
With the new accusations, IPC Sections 420, 467 and 468 were added in the case. Masih, the church pastor, and some others were then re-arrested.

“There is evidence that the accused were involved in conversion. We have booked 54 people in the case so far. Among these, 15 are in jail, 36 have obtained anticipatory bail, and three are absconding,” said SHO Mishra.

“With the rising number of accused in the case, this is turning out to be one of the biggest anti-conversion cases in the state. The probe is still on and police are yet to file a chargesheet,” said a senior police officer.

The Fatehpur police have also issued notices to the caretakers of two local churches, including the ECI church, seeking details including their sources of income, names of donors, amounts received from them, and the names of people converted so far.

The pastor’s wife, Preeti Masih, said, “We have been caretakers of the church for the last 10 years and no such allegation was raised. Some people have cooked up a story of conversion and innocent people have been booked. They are levelling false allegations to create terror in public.”

“Police raid our hospital any time. Because of this, some people have stopped coming to us for treatment. However, we are still providing full services,” said a senior administrative official of the Broadwell Christian Hospital who did not want to be identified.

Most of the hospital staff booked in the case are from other states, including Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

“The accused were trying to convince people to adopt Christianity by promising to provide free education, free medical treatment, jobs etc. We will fight the case till they are brought to justice,” said Virendra Pandey, a local VHP leader who claimed to be present at the spot on April 14.