Conversion racket: Uttar Pradesh ATS nabs 3 more

LUCKNOW: Continuing its probe into the alleged illegal religious conversion, UP ATS arrested three more accused on Sunday.
IG ATS, Gajendra Kumar Goswamy, who is leading the probe, said that names of the accused surfaced during questioning of accused cleric Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, who allegedly ran the biggest conversion syndicate across the country.
“We arrested Idris Qureshi, Saleem and Kunal Ashok alias Atif from Lucknow,” said Goswamy.
Kunal Ashok alias Atif
IG said that probe into the accounts of Maulana Kaleem, who was arrested on September 22 and is on a 10-day custody remand, has also revealed that apart from Rs 1.5crore illegally routed through Bahrain and Rs 3 crore from Gulf nations, a sum of Rs 20 crore was received by the trusts operated by the Maulana in violation of the Foreign Act.
Idris Qureshi
Goswamy added that Kunal got in touch with Maulana Kalim Siddiqui to take MCI examination but for the past 2 years he was working with Kaleem Siddiqui for conversions.
IG said Kunal got converted during his medical studies while living in Russia and was running a medical clinic in Nashik illegally after he failed to pass the Medical Council of India (MCI) examination.“Kunal alias Atif used to instigate his patients to convert to Islam and had assurance from Maulana Kalim to award him a passing MCI certificate,” said the IG.
On the other hand, Goswamy said, Idris Qureshi had been collecting funds for the past 20 years for Jamiatul Imam Waliullah Al Islamiyya Madrassa run by Kalim Siddiqui and was also active in the operation of the madrassa.“The madrassa was being run as the center of conversion of Kalim Siddiqui,” said Goswamy.
Qureshi built a residential house of about Rs 60 lakh in Muzaffarnagar and bought a motorcycle worth Rs 2.5 lakh.
“Evidence confirms that under the garb of a social harmony programme, a syndicate of illegal conversions was being operated by the accused,” said ATS officials. They also said that illegal properties have been created by the accused using the money received from abroad in the name of donation for personal purposes.
Earlier, the anti-terror squad had busted the illegal conversion racket in June with the arrest of kingpin Umar Gautam, his accomplice Mufti Kazi Jahangir Qasmi, and later its Nagpur syndicate was busted with the arrest of Rameshwar Kawre alias Adam, Kaushar Alam, and Bhuriya Bando alias Arslan Mustafa. Others in the police net include Noida sign language interpreter Irfan Sheikh, Munna Yadav and Rahul Bhola. Gujarat businessman Salahuddin Jainuddin and a Maharashtra doctor Firoz Shah were also arrested.
Idris Qureshi, and Saleem nabbed by UP ATS