Acting quick on a tip-off a priest in the Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh was caught hold of while trying to convert 17 Hindus into Christianity and offering them money.
A group of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists thrashed the priest of the Mulhera Church, Father Deependra Prakash Maalewar, when he was making affidavits of their conversion in a lawyer's chamber.
"We had prior information about the priest that he was involved in religious conversion and was luring poor Hindu families to embrace Christianity," said VHP leader Abhishek Chauhan to DNA. He continued to say "On a tip-off that he has brought these poor Hindus to Tehsil for making affidavits, we raided the lawyer's chamber and caught him red-handed."
As confirmed by the Sardhana Police Station Officer S.K. Singh, the priest admitted during interrogation that he was completing the legal formalities for five Hindu families consisting of 17 members of Khatauli and Mansoorpur villages in Mazaffarnagar. He also confessed to having converted four Hindu families into Christianity earlier in the village of Mulhera.
Police had to let go of the accused lawyer after other lawyers protested his arrest. The affidavits for conversion were recovered by the police from the lawyer's chamber.
The police have arrested 10 members of the five Hindu families while others fled on seeing the trouble, said the SDM Sardhana S.K. Singh. The detained members have been identified as Kuldeep, Anjali Rani, Ranjan, Leelavati, Poonam, Salauni, Vishal, and Ashok.
Most of them were poor and belonged to lower caste, which led the priest to lure them with cash and job offer. "We were offered Rs. 15,000 cash and promised a job by the priest if we changed our religion to embrace Christianity," said Anjali Rani to the police during questioning.
A case has been registered by the police against the priest for forcible conversion on a complaint lodged by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists. The statements of Hindu members have been recorded and further investigations are under process.
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