In a troubling escalation of spiritual tensions in Uttar Pradesh, a number of Christians have been arrested and detained over the previous week on fees of unlawful spiritual conversion underneath the Uttar Pradesh Illegal Spiritual Conversion Prohibition Act. The coordinated police actions in Raebareli and Sitapur districts mark an escalation within the enforcement of the state’s controversial anti-conversion statute, which minority religion leaders have lengthy contested.
A number of Arrests in Raebareli
On February 22, 2025, Pastor Vijay Singh and two others, recognized as Ajeet and Ravi Kumar, had been arrested from a pastor’s home in Sandi Nagin village in Raebareli district. After being taken into custody on the Rae Bareli police station together with a lady recognized solely as Sushma, Pastor Vijay and his two associates together with Sushma had been later despatched to Raebareli District Jail.
Native Hindi media reported the incident with inflammatory language, claiming {that a} “gang concerned in changing minors” had been caught, with “one girl amongst 4 arrested.” The information report alleged that the group had been working for a number of years within the Mill Space police jurisdiction, engaging minors and adults with cash and different incentives to transform to Christianity.
The police motion reportedly got here after complaints from numerous organizations. The Mill Space police station chief, Rajiv Singh, claimed that Christian missionaries had been organizing prayer conferences in Sandiram, Dighiya, and surrounding villages, allegedly luring folks of different faiths with cash and different incentives, and even attracting kids with gives of toffees and pencils to attend prayer conferences.
Focusing on of Pastor Anil’s Household
In a associated incident in Dighiya village of Raebareli district, police visited the residence of Pastor Anil from an AG Church, trying to find him. After they couldn’t discover Pastor Anil, they took his son into custody. In line with stories from February 24, the son was detained at Dighiya police outpost.
Additional updates acquired on February 25 point out that Pastor Anil’s son was launched after allegedly settling the matter with the native police. Nevertheless, Pastor Anil himself was arrested at 2:00 PM on February 25. In a constructive growth, discipline stories point out that Pastor Anil Singh was granted bail the identical night.
Sunday Worship Service Disrupted in Sitapur
In a separate incident in Sitapur district, Pastor Suresh Chand, his spouse Nutan Kumari, and 4 different worshippers – Meena Devi, Uttam Balmiki, Vinit Kumar Redas, and Ladli Devi – had been taken into custody throughout a Sunday worship service on the AG worship centre in Hargaon village. They had been charged underneath each the Illegal Spiritual Conversion Prohibition Act and BNS 127/2.
Native Hindi media portrayed this incident as a “main spiritual conversion case” in Sitapur district. In line with these stories, eight folks – 5 ladies and three males – had been arrested for allegedly engaging folks to transform by providing cash and guarantees of colony housing. The media report claims the scenario was uncovered when Bajrang Dal activists arrived on the scene, the place roughly 400 folks had been current. The report additional alleges that the Christians locked three Bajrang Dal staff inside a home, holding them hostage, and that police rescued them upon arrival. The fees have been denied by native Christian leaders.
Escalating State of affairs
Sources affirm that police investigations have expanded past the preliminary arrests. In what seems to be a widening dragnet, authorities visited Pastor Shyam Daniel’s residence after his village was talked about in a video circulating on social media platforms.
“What we’re witnessing is a scientific marketing campaign towards minority religion communities,” stated an area Christian advocate who requested anonymity on account of safety considerations. “The anti-conversion regulation has grow to be a handy instrument to criminalize routine worship actions.”
The Uttar Pradesh anti-conversion regulation, which was amended in July 2024 to extend penalties to life imprisonment and broaden its scope, has come underneath sharp criticism from numerous quarters. The modification additionally controversially expanded who can file complaints, permitting “any individual” to behave as a complainant no matter whether or not they had been personally affected by alleged conversion actions.
Media articles observe that the July 2024 modification to the anti-conversion regulation has made it considerably simpler for third events to file complaints, with circumstances now doubtlessly initiated based mostly on allegations from people indirectly concerned within the alleged conversion actions.
In the meantime, regional media shops proceed to make use of loaded terminology like “conversion racket” and “luring minors,” framing incidents by sensationalist headlines, which native Christian leaders time period as “troublesome”.
