UP religious conversion racket: ATS arrests one more from Gujarat

Lucknow, Jun 30 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday arrested one more person, identified as Salahuddin Jainuddin Sheikh, from Ahmedabad in Gujarat in connection with the unlawful religious conversion racket, officials said.

In a statement issued here, the UP ATS said that Salahuddin was arrested by a team of UP ATS with co-operation from the Ahmedabad ATS.

On June 20, New Delhi's Jamia Nagar residents Mufti Qazi Jahangir Alam Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam, who ran Islamic Dawah Center, an outfit working on the ISI funding for conversion of deaf-mute students to Islam, were apprehended.

"Salahuddin admitted that he knew Umar Gautam, and for religious conversion, he used to send Gautam money via 'hawala'. The arrested accused is being brought to Lucknow on a transit remand," the statement said.

An iPad and a mobile phone have been recovered from him, officials said.

On June 28, a sign language expert working in the Union Ministry of Child and Family Welfare was among the three people arrested by the UP ATS on Monday for their alleged complicity in a religious conversion racket.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar identified the arrested expert for the deaf-mute sign language as Maharashtra native Irfan Khwaja Khan.

ADG Kumar identified the two other arrested accused as Haryana native Munnu Yadav alias Abdul Mannan, a convert, and Delhi resident Rahul Bhola, himself a deaf-mute man, helping Irfan in identifying gullible students for the illegal conversion. PTI NAV MA  MA MA