Lucknow,

19 July (HS): On Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh Police announced that they had

cracked a large-scale illegal religious conversion ring and detained ten

persons from six states. The

investigation began in Agra in March, after two sisters, aged 33 and 18, were

reported missing. According to the

authorities, they were pressured into religious conversion and were being

radicalized. According to reports, one of the sisters also used an image of a

girl carrying an AK 47 weapon as her profile picture on a social networking

platform.

According

to Agra Commissioner of Police Deepak Kumar, preliminary investigations

revealed that the girls were targeted by a gang engaged in 'love jihad' and

radicalization.We also discovered hints

regarding their funds coming from America and Canada, he stated.

The

Agra police have made ten arrests in connection with the crime. Three were detained in Rajasthan, two in

Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, and one each in Goa, Uttarakhand, and Delhi. Director

General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Krishna held a press conference with Agra Police

Commissioner Deepak Kumar at the Police Headquarters in Lucknow on Saturday

afternoon. The DGP said that working under the leadership of Police

Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the police has arrested 10 people from six states.

Their names are Ayesha, a resident of Goa, Ali Hasan, a resident of Kolkata,

West Bengal, Osama, Rehman Qureshi from Agra, Abu Talib, a resident of

Muzaffarnagar, Abur Rehman, a resident of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Mohammad Ali,

a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan, Junaid Qureshi, Mustafa from Delhi and

Mohammad Ali from Jaipur.

The

DGP said that during interrogation of the arrested people, it was revealed that

they used to convert young girls living in different states by luring them,

influencing them through love jihad and other means. This is the method of

illegal conversion in the signature style of the terrorist organization Islamic

State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The

DGP said that preliminary investigation has indicated that this group is

connected to Popular Front of India (PFI), Social Democratic Party of India

(SDPI) and Pakistani terrorist organizations. STF, ATS have also been deployed

along with Agra Police to investigate the case. If needed, the help of state

and central investigation agencies will also be taken.

The

gang's method of unlawful conversion and radicalization is similar to that of

ISIS, according to Commissioner Kumar. The arrested people performed various

roles in this complex network.The

commissioner stated that their actions included accepting illicit donations,

providing safe houses for covert operations, offering legal advice, and

providing various sorts of help to enable conversions and radicalization.

Given

the nature of these crimes, specialized UP Police units such as the Special

Task Force (STF) and the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) have been tasked with

assisting with the ongoing investigation, according to Director General of

Police Rajeev Krishna. This move is part of the continuing 'Mission Asmita'

campaign, which aims to dismantle such illegal syndicates.

Mission

Asmita focuses on criminals engaging in major felonies such as 'love jihad',

unlawful conversions, and radicalization. DGP Krishna stated that the mission's

goal is to prevent deliberate attempts to undermine national security by

funneling international terrorist funds through clandestine networks, such as

the dark web.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi