Since June, the UP ATS has made several arrests in connection with a country-wide religious conversion syndicate being carried out allegedly at the behest of Gautam.
The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad has arrested the son of the main accused in the illegal “religious conversion” racket from Noida on Saturday. Police said that Abdullah, son of main accused Umar Gautam, was allegedly involved in securing funds for large scale conversions.
Since June, the UP ATS has made several arrests in connection with a country-wide religious conversion syndicate being carried out allegedly at the behest of Gautam.
“It was found during investigation that Abdullah had been receiving dubious funding in various bank accounts. He was directly in touch with other accused of the syndicate and was involved in getting money for conversion operations. He is an important member of the entire religious conversion racket and worked closely with Umar. Further details of his activities are being ascertained,” said the UP ATS in a statement.
Police will now seek his remand to gather more details about the racket, an officer said.
According to police, Abdullah allegedly received Rs 75 lakh in various bank accounts out of which Rs 17 lakh was from foreign sources. The accused would allegedly give out cash incentives to those who converted, said police. “It is suspected that the accused also purchased properties using the funds they received,” added the officer.
So far, the UP ATS has found evidence of hawala funding to the tune of nearly Rs 57 crore received by Gautam and his aides for the racket. The accused received money in their bank accounts from countries like the UK and US, officials said.
During investigation, police said it also came to light that Abdullah used to look after his father’s madrasa and organisation, Islamic Dawah Center (IDB) in Delhi, which had allegedly been carrying out large scale conversion. Father and son also ran the Al Faruqi Masjid and Madrasa.
The family used to live in Batla House before they shifted following Gautam’s arrest in June. Abdullah continued to live in the fourth-floor apartment briefly.
“The family stayed here for years but left after the arrest of Umar Gautam. They kept to themselves… Following the media presence, they decided to live somewhere else. The son, Abdullah, had an office nearby,” said the building caretaker.
On June 20, the ATS had claimed to have unearthed an alleged illegal conversion racket by arresting three persons — Delhi’s Jamia Nagar residents Mufti Qazi, Jahangir Alam Qasmi, and Mohammad Umar Gautam. A total of 17 people have been arrested in the case so far.
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