UP: ED registers money laundering case in religious conversion racket

Lucknow: The Enforcement Department (ED) has registered a case of money laundering against the religious conversion racket after preliminary investigations allegedly revealed that the members of the racket had received large amounts of money from foreign countries to finance conversion of the people, especially those hailing from the weaker sections of the society and poor.

According to the official sources, the Lucknow Unit of the ED registered cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday evening.

Sources said that the ED would investigate the alleged illegal activities of the mastermind Jamaluddin alias Changur Baba and foreign funding.

Changur Baba, who allegedly ran a religious conversion racket, was arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). He has been accused of receiving Rs 100 crore from abroad to finance his ‘operations’ in the country.

Sources said that the ED was likely to question Changur Baba in the very near future.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Tuesday said that the activities of religious conversion mastermind Jalaluddin alias Changur Baba and his gang were not only ‘anti-social’ but also 'anti-national' and promised strict action against them.

The district administration had used bulldozers to demolish the palatial house of Changur Baba at Utraula in Balrampur.

The ATS said that the gang had 18 members of whom four have been arrested and efforts were on to nab the other members. It was also revealed that the gang was active in several districts in the state.

It was alleged that the gang used to lure poor people by offering them money. Sources said that the gang had fixed rates for converting people from different castes.