Instagram, threats and a 15 year racket: How Chhangur Baba lured women into forced conversions

BENGALURU: The arrest of Maulana Jalaluddin alias Chhangur Baba in connection with a religious conversion racket has exposed how deeply this problem is rooted. Baba was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad after it was found that he ran a massive conversion racket and minted money in crores.

Preliminary investigations showed that Chhangur Baba and his associates were involved in illegal conversion activities only in UP. However, as the probe progressed, it was found that Baba and his aides were involved in similar activities in Uttarakhand as well.

The probe has found that Chhangur Baba and his associates had set up a huge network whereby women would be trapped and then converted. They used social media platforms such as Instagram to post religious content through which these women would be brainwashed.

These issues came to light following the arrest of Abdul Rehman from Dehradun and Abu Taleb from Muzaffarnagar. They allegedly trapped two women through posts on social media.