Conversion Racket Accused Seeks Return to Hinduism

• Mohammad Ali, arrested in a large-scale conversion racket, claims he is a victim and wants to reconvert to Hinduism.
• Formerly Piyush Panwar, he converted to Islam in 2021 for marriage, but was subsequently rejected.
• He is among 10 people arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police from six states in a “love jihad” investigation.

GG News Bureau
Agra, 21st July: A man identified as Mohammad Ali, arrested in connection with a large-scale illegal religious conversion racket, has reportedly told sources that he is also a victim in the scheme and now wishes to convert back to Hinduism. Mohammad Ali, known as Piyush Panwar before his conversion, is among 10 individuals arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police last Saturday from six different states in a case dubbed “love jihad.”

The multi-state investigation commenced in Agra in March after two sisters, aged 33 and 18, were reported missing. Agra Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar had stated that preliminary investigations indicated the sisters were targeted by a gang involved in “love jihad” and radicalization, with clues pointing to funding originating from the US and Canada. Ali, a resident of Rajasthan, has reportedly provided the police with details about the conversion network.

Sources indicate that while held in an Agra jail, Ali became emotional during initial interrogation and expressed a desire to return home, leave Islam, and become a Hindu again. He also wished to apologize to his parents, who had severed ties with him after his conversion to Islam.

How Piyush Panwar Became Mohammad Ali

The narrative of Piyush Panwar’s conversion began in 2021 when he met Shana, a woman from Rajasthan’s Tonk. They developed a relationship and planned to marry, but Shana reportedly made his acceptance of Islam a precondition. Piyush agreed, changing his name to Mohammad Ali in the same year. However, sources reveal that Shana then rejected him after he converted. With his family having cut ties, Ali reportedly decided not to reconvert at that time and married a Muslim woman from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.

During his initial attempt to convert to Islam, Ali reportedly came into contact with Mohammad Gaus, a member of the Popular Front of India (PFI), an organization banned by the Centre in 2022 due to its alleged links with global terrorist organizations. Through Gaus, Ali met cleric Kaleem Siddiqui in Delhi, who was himself convicted in a separate conversion case last year.

Ali then traveled to West Bengal for religious education, staying in madrasas in Asansol, Bardhaman, and Katwapara for three months. Approximately a year ago, he connected with a woman named Ayesha from Goa via Instagram. Ayesha, also among the 10 arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police, allegedly maintained records of girls who converted to Islam. Police consider Ali a close associate of Ayesha.

Arrested in Jaipur, Ali has also informed the police that members of the PFI and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) are linked to their network.

Besides Ali and Ayesha, other individuals arrested under ‘Mission Asmita’ – an ongoing initiative aimed at dismantling such illegal syndicates – include Hasan Ali and Osama from Kolkata, Rahman Qureshi from Agra, Abu Talib from Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), Abdur Rehman from Dehradun (Uttarakhand), another Mohammad Ali and Junaid Qureshi from Rajasthan, and Mustafa from Delhi. Police have stated that the “modus operandi of the gang involved illegal conversion and radicalisation bears a signature of ISIS.”

These arrests follow closely on the heels of the recent apprehension of Chhangur Baba, alias Jamaluddin, identified as the mastermind of another religious conversion gang, by the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad.