Ex-BBMP corporator among three arrested for 'forced conversion'

Anti-conversion law was not invoked in the case as the alleged offences took place before it came into force

Bengaluru police have arrested a former BBMP corporator and two others for "forcibly converting a Dalit man to Islam, circumcising him and feeding him beef" in a case that dates back to May this year.

S Ansar Pasha (50), who represented the Banashankari Temple Ward in the last BBMP council, was arrested on Thursday morning. On Wednesday night, police arrested Nayaz Pasha (50), the president of Banashankari Masjid Qabristan, and Shameem Salik alias Haaji Sab (50) in the same case. Ansar Pasha is also a member of the mosque committee.

In all, police have arrested five people over the "forced conversion". Ataur Rahman (35) and Shabbir (30) were arrested last week.

Also read: The caste and conversion flashpoint

Confirming the arrests, P Krishnakant, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), told DH: "We took the action on the basis of an FIR. Further investigations are under way."

The officer denied that the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2022, which came into force on May 17, was invoked in the case. "The offences mentioned in the FIR took place before the ordinance came into force. So, we have not invoked the newly enacted law in this case."

The case is based on a complaint filed by Sridhar G (26), a native of Yadavanahalli, Maddur taluk, Mandya district, in September. Sridhar told the police that it was Rahman, a native of Koppa, Maddur taluk, who started it all.

Sridhar was in financial distress and sought help from Rahman, who took him to the Banashankari mosque and introduced him to Nayaz and Salik. They put him up in a room in the mosque complex and tried to coax him into accepting Islam. Later, they "forcibly" circumcised him, fed him beef and renamed him Mohammed Salman.

Sridhar was then taken to various mosques in Bengaluru, Tirupati and other places. An account was also opened in his name with Kotak Mahindra Bank and Rs 35,000 was deposited in it.

Sridhar further told the police that when he resisted these efforts, he was threatened with a pistol and asked to record a video and sign an affidavit stating that he had accepted Islam out of his own free will.

The FIR also mentioned that on September 17, a female Facebook friend invited Sridhar to Hubballi. But when he tried to meet her in Hubballi's Bhairidevarakoppa area on September 21, a group of people beat him up.

Sridhar filed a complaint at Hubballi's Navanagar police station, alleging forced conversion and torture. The case was later transferred to the Banashankari police station in Bengaluru.

A well-placed police source said there was no evidence that would support Sridhar's claims. "Except for his statement, we have no evidence. No CCTV footage or witness statements," the source said.

The Banashankari mosque has CCTV footage, but only for the last 15 days. The source said, "Sridhar's medical examination indicates he was circumcised, but we do not know when or how."

Sridhar told the police that he wasn't present when the affidavit was drafted and that the video was forced upon him.