Prayagraj: Police have arrested three Christians on charges of inciting religious conversion in Haribhanpur village under Phulpur police station limits in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district. They have registered a case against Ramkumar Pal, Ramsharan Gautam, Tribhuvan Gautam and Sarita Gautam. Three of them have been arrested, and one is absconding, the police said, adding that a search has been intensified for him.
The police action was based on a complaint filed by Shantanu Tiwari, a leader of the Sangh Parivar organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal district co-convener. The complaint was that Christian missionaries were converting Hindus in large numbers in Raghunathpur village.
It is learnt that Shantanu Tiwari and his group of right-wing extremists barged into a discussion meeting held in the village on Saturday and disrupted it. The police were then informed, and VHP claimed that a religious gathering was organised in the name of 'social discussion' and that Hindu villagers were being persuaded to convert to Christianity.
The case registered based on the complaint of Shantanu was under sections 352 (trespass), 196(1), 299 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Conversion Act.
The Uttar Pradesh police claimed that the investigation has confirmed that the accused had forced people to renounce their Hindu faith and had offered them financial assistance and employment opportunities in return for converting to Christianity. The police said that the case involves crimes related to assault, incitement and illegal conversion and that legal action will continue.