Pastor held for luring people with financial incentives to convert to Christianity in UP

Meerut, Uttar Pradesh: A pastor was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly luring people with financial incentives to convert to Christianity, officials said.

Ravi Kumar Azad alias Ravi Pastor, the main accused in the Meerut religious conversion case, had been on the run since the case was registered in August 2024, police said.

Earlier, five accused were arrested in the case and sent to jail.

According to a district police spokesperson, Azad, a resident of Jatav Nagar in the Qutubsher police station area of Saharanpur, was arrested in the morning.

A special team led by Inspector Anil Kumar Singh and Yogesh Chand from the Meerut Crime Branch, with assistance from the ATS Meerut, acted on a tip-off and arrested Azad near the Bhaura Mandir outpost in the Paith Bazaar area of Saharanpur, the spokesperson said.

The case was registered on August 12, 2024, on a complaint by Manoj Tyagi, alleging that Azad and his associates were coercing individuals from the Scheduled Caste community and people from other social backgrounds to convert to Christianity.

He claimed that the accused lured them with financial assistance and created psychological pressure to accept the religion.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Kankerkhera police station here under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, against Azad and six others, the official said.

The investigation into the case was being conducted by the Meerut Crime Branch. Five of the accused have already been sent to jail. Azad, the prime accused, had been on the run since the incident, the official said.

"Police had been making continuous efforts to trace him, leading to his arrest," the official said.