Uttar Pradesh court convicts Maulana Umar Gautam, 15 others in mass religious conversion case – India Legal

A periods courtroom in Lucknow has convicted Muslim cleric Umar Gautam and 15 others for allegedly finishing up over 1,000 unlawful non secular conversions in Uttar Pradesh.

NIA/ATS courtroom choose Vivekanand Saran Tripathi on September 10 convicted key accused Umar Gautam, Arshan Mustafa alias Bhupriya Bando, Adam alias Prasad Rameshwaram Kovere, Mufti Qazi Jahangir Qasmi, Kaushar Alam, Faraz Babullah Shah, Irfan Sheikh, Salahuddin Zainuddin Sheikh, Dheeraj Govind, Mohd Kaleem Siddiqui, Mohd Salim, Sarfaraz Ali Jafari and Abdullah Umar to life imprisonment below Sections 417, 153, 295A, 121 and 123 of the Indian Penal Code. They had been additional convicted below related Sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Illegal Conversion of Faith Act.

In addition to, the Particular Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) courtroom awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to Rahul Bola, Abdul Mannan alias Munnu Yadav and Mohd Atif alias Kunal Ashok Choudhary and Mohd Salim within the case.

Prosecution counsel MK Singh Siddiqui stated the Muslim cleric and others had been concerned in operating a wide-scale conversion racket via organizations and academic establishments funded by worldwide entities.

They allegedly coerced people, together with specially-abled kids and different weak teams, to transform to Islam via monetary incentives and psychological manipulation.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad uncovered the racket after arresting Maulana Umar Gautam, chairman of the Islamic Da’wah Centre based mostly in Delhi’s Batla Home, together with Mufti Kazi Jahangir Kasmi, an worker of the centre, on June 20, 2021.

The UP ATS group additional arrested 14 folks within the case, together with Abdullah Umar, son of Umar Gautam. The prosecution alleged that the community had a broader agenda of imposing Sharia legislation within the nation.

Umar Gautam was accused of concentrating on weak people by sharing his personal conversion from Hinduism’s Thakur caste to Islam, whereas emphasizing caste discrimination to affect them. The convicts allegedly promised jobs to those that transformed to Islam.

The Muslim cleric, alongside along with his associates, reportedly acquired international funding for these actions. The prosecution claimed that their goal was to change India’s demographic panorama, disturb public order, and undermine nationwide safety by changing people to Islam.