Overview
- Police identified Abdul Majeed, a madrasa cleric, as the alleged mastermind and arrested him along with Salman, Mohammad Arif and Mohd Faheem, with one more suspect reported to be at large.
- Officials say the operation focused on young Hindu men who were lured with marriage promises, manipulated psychologically and, in some cases, introduced to drugs.
- A visually impaired professor, Prabhat Upadhyay, was recovered from a madrasa after his mother’s complaint, with police stating he was being pressured to adopt a new name and convert.
- Raids yielded Aadhaar and passport documents, conversion certificates, religious books and CDs including one of Zakir Naik, more than 100 photographs of Muslim women, mobile devices and alleged sedatives.
- Cases have been registered under BNS provisions and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, with NDPS charges under consideration as police map links across multiple states and a separate Varanasi FIR led to two arrests.