India: Over 1500 Hindu women forcibly converted to Islam
In one of the largest anti-conversion crackdowns of recent times in India, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has unearthed a massive religious conversion racket allegedly led by a self-styled Muslim cleric, Jalaluddin, known locally as Chhangur Baba. Jalaluddin was helming an organized operation that forcefully converted thousands of non-Muslims, including at least 1,500 Hindu women, through threats, deceit, and monetary inducements.
Jalaluddin, who initially worked as a bicycle astrologer in Balrampur district, is accused of constructing a vast and illegal empire worth over ₹100 crore (US $11,566,604.00), including lands, properties, and foreign-funded bank accounts. According to officials, he used his growing influence to exploit vulnerable non-Muslims, primarily Hindu women from backward or economically weaker families, by promising them healing, wealth, or marriage. His network is said to have offered tiered payments for successful conversions, with a reported rate list that allocated lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of rupees for converting women from the Hindu community.
A shocking testimony that drew national attention involved a Hindu man, Jyotirgmay Rai, from Bhadohi, who claimed he had unknowingly married a Muslim woman who had disguised herself as a Hindu. He alleged that when he refused to convert to Islam, Chhangur Baba threatened to kill his two daughters. It was his police report (known as a First Information Report, or FIR) that triggered the focus on the systematic grooming and blackmailing tactics employed by Jalaluddin’s network. Investigations revealed that the so-called Baba maintained conversion “registers” recording the names of converted individuals, and these are now central evidence in the ongoing legal process.
Jalaluddin was arrested on July 5 along with his close associate Nasreen, who acted as a recruiter within the racket. Nasreen’s husband and son were arrested earlier this year, reportedly after police found suspicious transactions and conversion-related material in their possession. Together, the family operated under a veil of spiritual service, but were running a coercive campaign of religious transformation aimed at creating demographic disruption.
Authorities estimate that over 1,500 Hindu women were forcibly converted to Islam under the illicit operation led by Jalaluddin, alias Chhangur Baba. Police sources indicate that the total number of non-Muslim conversions, encompassing women and men, ran into the thousands. Multiple reports confirm that the racket systematically targeted vulnerable Hindu widows, separated or poor women who were reportedly coerced via financial inducements, emotional pressure, or threats. Victims such as Gunja Gupta from Lucknow, Manvi Sharma from Auraiya, and Neelam each described how they were lured into conversions or fake marriages and subjected to pressure to change their religion and name, and told to bring others into Islam for cash incentives. A woman from Balrampur claims that she, along with her daughter, was forced to convert while her husband was away for work in Mumbai. Police are verifying these testimonies to investigate their link to the broader network.
The case has also raised questions about the role of religious institutions, court officials, and digital platforms in enabling such covert operations over many years. ATS operations have led to the arrest of two additional aides, Sabroz, also known as Imran, and Shahabuddin, working as digital propagandists. Officials claim that these detainees were propagating religious materials and conversion videos online, targeting impressionable youth and the uneducated, sometimes through fake social media accounts and encrypted chat apps. Police also discovered that many of the converted individuals had been lured with promises of jobs, housing, or international migration. Others were simply threatened with violence or death unless they complied.
The UP government has moved swiftly to dismantle Chhangur Baba’s physical empire. An illegally constructed luxurious estate in Madhpur village was bulldozed by the district administration. The sprawling mansion, spanning 1.3 acres of land, featured imported marble structures, unauthorized electricity connections, and private water lines, and was reportedly used as a madrassa complex, serving as a recruitment hub for conversions. The landlord of the property where Baba resided in the city was fined ₹8.5 lakh (US $9,831.61) for allowing illegal religious activities in violation of property law.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condemned the operation, calling it “anti-national” and part of a larger conspiracy to destabilize Hindu-majority regions by altering demographics through deceitful conversions. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now taken over part of the investigation to track the money trail. Officials confirmed that funding from Gulf countries and Europe was being funneled through hawala and shell NGOs.
The case has now snowballed beyond Uttar Pradesh, with law enforcement in Maharashtra, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh opening probes into possible links to local mosques, madrassas, and foreign-based Islamic charities. As the investigation unfolds, the Jalaluddin alias Chhangur Baba case is emerging as a critical test of India’s existing religious conversion laws. The state government, in collaboration with national security agencies, appears committed to unraveling what one officer called “only the tip of the iceberg” in a decades-old underground campaign of forced Islamization to push India towards the ultimate Islamic dream of Ghazwa-e-Hind (the Islamic conquest of India).
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