UP illegal religious conversion: Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui sent to 14-day judicial custody

Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad (UP ATS), has been sent to 14 days of judicial custody until October 5. The charges pertain to illegal religious conversion cases and by recourse of law, Kaleem will be presented in court on September 23 for remand in custody. The 64-year-old Islamic scholar is one of the biggest clerics from western UP whose name popped up during the investigation into the Umar Gautam case. He was nabbed in Meerut and is currently being interrogated by UP Police. He had been under the radar due to suspicious activities and spewing radicalism.

Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui in judicial custody for 14 days

UP ATS arrested Siddiqui, who is a resident of Muzaffarnagar, in connection with India's largest religious conversion syndicate busted by the ATS. He runs Jamia Imam Waliullah trust that funds several madrassas for which he received huge foreign funding, the police had stated while arresting the famous Islamic scholar. 

Addressing the press conference, Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar, informed, "Investigation shows Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui runs Jamia Imam Waliullah trust that funds several madrassas for which he received huge foreign funding. Investigation shows Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui’s trust received Rs 3 crores in foreign funding, including Rs 1.5 from Bahrain. Six teams of ATS have been formed to investigate this case". 

While Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Delhi’s Okhla, Amanatullah Khan, who was participating in the Shaheen Bagh protests, termed the arrest “atrocity on Muslims.”

Religious conversion case in Uttar Pradesh

Earlier in June, Umar Gautam along with eight others were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police for allegedly running a conversion racket. Following the arrest, the UP Police had informed that the racket involved the conversion of deaf children and women to Islam and more than 1,000 people were converted. Police statement further said that more than a dozen deaf and dumb children in Noida were also converted. The police said that during the interrogation, the arrested accused confessed to converting nearly 250 to 300 people every year.

Earlier in the press conference, UP ADG Prashant Kumar had said, "The deaf and dumb son of a couple living in Kalyanpur, Kanpur, was converted and sent to South India. Thousands of such cases have come to light. People were promised money and jobs in lieu of conversion."