In a significant development, the Uttar Pradesh police have made an arrest and uncovered a disturbing racket in Ghaziabad.
According to officials, the racket employed an online gaming application as a means to target and manipulate children and teenagers, luring them into religious conversion.
A committee member from a Sanjay Nagar mosque, identified as Abdul Rehman, originally from Ballia, was detained on Sunday. He is alleged to have played a significant part in the religious conversion of at least four young individuals.
The mosque committee told cops that Rehman resigned from the panel a few months ago, but has yet to provide any confirmation of the assertion.
On May 30, an investigation into the conversion racket led to Khan Shahnawaz, also known as Baddo, a resident of Thane and the imam of a mosque, being charged.
An investigation was initiated following a complaint made by the father of a young boy from Faridabad to the police. The father alleged that his son had connected with an individual through a gaming application and had been influenced by that person to visit the mosque located in Sanjay Nagar.
Recently, the father uncovered that his child had been deceitful about attending the gym and going to the mosque for prayers.
According to Nipun Agarwal, DCP (city), they have proof that Rehman attempted to convert four teenagers, two from Ghaziabad, one from Faridabad, and one from Chandigarh.
According to the officer's statement, it was discovered that he had been engaged in conversations with the four young individuals and sharing religious videos with them since 2021.
Abhishek Srivastava, ACP (Kavi Nagar), revealed that the underage boy from Faridabad had communicated with three other youngsters and Rehman via a gaming app, as per his statement.
These individuals had exchanged their phone numbers with Rehman, who reportedly began preaching about Islam to them. Additionally, two of the youths were also in contact with Baddo.
Upon interrogating the young individual from Faridabad, we ascertained that he, along with the rest, had been communicating with Rehman through a gaming application since 2021.
The ACP further mentioned that despite his mother's efforts to counsel him after noticing a change in his behaviour, it proved to be ineffective. "We have yet to question the Chandigarh youth."
According to authorities, one of the Ghaziabad teens met Baddo after losing his parents during the devastating second wave of Covid-19 in 2021.
Following the unfortunate demise of his parents, he contracted the virus himself and subsequently tested positive. As a minor at that time, he began watching Islam-related videos on YouTube and became captivated by the sermons.
The child met another youth from the NCR city in the Sanjay Nagar mosque. According to the authorities, he was also encouraged to change his religion.
According to Srivastava, the mosque committee informed them that Rehman was no longer a member of their board. He mentioned that the committee did not have any evidence to support their claim.
However, he added that they took action by removing Rehman from the mosque committee's WhatsApp group on June 2, following the filing of the FIR related to the conversion controversy.