The three were tasked to operate religious conversion centre in Nagpur: UP ATS
   Date :18-Jul-2021

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Staff Reporter :
 
The three persons, who were arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh (UP) police, were deputed to operate a religious conversion centre in Nagpur. The ATS had arrested two persons from city and one from Gadchiroli district in a day-long operation on Friday. The accused were taken to Uttar Pradesh late in the night in a special vehicle, a top-ranking police official informed The Hitavada. The UP ATS had arrested some persons last month in Delhi and had claimed that a nation-wide racket of religious conversions was busted.
 
The police had recovered a register with details of over 1,000 persons, including their names and addresses, from Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. Sources claimed that names of these three persons from Nagpur were mentioned in the register. Acting swiftly, the ATS arrived at Nagpur at 1.30 pm by a flight. The team first went to Gadchiroli and arrested Bhupriya Bando Devidas Mankar from Waigaon village in Chamorshi tehsil of Gadchiroli district. The team returned to Nagpur late in the evening and arrested Prasad Rameshwar Kambale and Kausar Alam Shaukat Ali Khan from Kamble Plot, near Rahul Complex in Ganeshpeth police station area.
 
Sources informed that Kamble and Mankar were converted to Islam. Kamble adopted name as Adam while Mankar was using his old name. Kausar Alam is a maulana and a native of Dhanbad, Jharkhand. He was living with Kamble at his house in Kamble plot. Kamble had married a woman who is a citizen of Egypt. She is living in Cairo, the capital of Egypt and operating a herbal business there.
 
The UP ATS is likely to interrogate the accused to ascertain their plans and local accomplices. It may be mentioned that the UP police had registered an FIR in Lucknow under Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 on June 20 and had claimed that a nation-wide racket of religious conversions was busted. The UP’s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 prohibits unlawful religious conversions and nullifies marriages if they are carried out with the sole purpose of religious conversion. The law provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 under different categories.