Minor Dalit girl from UP taken to Kerala for conversion and terror recruitment: Police

Prayagraj: A minor Dalit girl was lured from her village in Uttar Pradesh and taken to Kerala where she was coerced into converting ahead of being recruited for terrorist activities, police said on Monday, blowing the lid off a suspected radicalisation network.

The conspiracy began to unravel when the 15-year-old, who was allegedly taken from her village in Phoolpur area in Prayagraj district on May 8, escaped from Kerala and contacted her mother. Two people have been arrested.

According to DCP (Ganga Nagar) Kuldeep Singh Gunawat, the teen was being forced to join jihadi activities and somehow managed to reach the Thrissur railway station from where she reached out to her mother with the help of local police.

She was alleged lured away by a 19-year-old woman called Darkhsha Bano who has been nabbed along with a man called Mohammed Kaif, he said.

“After contacting her mother from Kerala, the girl was brought back to Prayagraj and is currently being housed at a One Stop Centre for protection. A case has been registered against Darkhsha Bano, Mohammed Kaif, and an unidentified person who allegedly issued threats to the victim’s family over the phone,” the DCP said.

During preliminary questioning, the rescued girl said other minor girls were also being targeted and recruited by the same group.

On June 26, the girl's mother lodged a formal complaint at the Phoolpur police station, stating that her daughter had been lured and taken away.

The complainant also received threats from an unidentified number after she reached the police for help.

According to Gunawat, the girl was introduced to suspicious individuals who first enticed her with money, then allegedly coerced her into converting her religion and then put pressure on her to take part in extremist activities.

She said Kaif had taken her on a motorcycle to the Prayagraj Junction railway station and also allegedly harassed her. Darkhsha Bano later took her to Delhi by train and then to Kerala, where she was introduced to unknown persons involved in the radicalisation network.

Gunawat said the accused were operating as part of an organised syndicate aimed at misleading girls and pushing them into anti-national and terrorist activities.

Three dedicated police teams have been formed to investigate further leads and unearth the full network associated with the suspects.