UP Police examines video of arrested cleric talking of his ‘role in conversions’

The two clerics – Mufti Kazi Jahageer Kasmi (52) and Mohammad Umar Gautam (57) – were arrested from Delhi on Monday for allegedly converting over a thousand people to Islam in Uttar Pradesh by luring them with money, jobs and marriage, among other things.

Two days after the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested two clerics, police are now examining a video that is doing the rounds on social media, in which one of them purportedly talks about his involvement in converting people from other religions to Islam.

The two clerics – Mufti Kazi Jahageer Kasmi (52) and Mohammad Umar Gautam (57) – were arrested from Delhi on Monday for allegedly converting over a thousand people to Islam in Uttar Pradesh by luring them with money, jobs and marriage, among other things.

The video also purportedly shows Umar referring to two persons – a woman from Kanpur and another youth from Gorakhpur – who have been converted to Islam. Police are now planning to get in touch with these two persons.

“We have watched the video and police will examine it,” said Additional Director General, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar. He added that in the video, Umar purportedly admits to have converted over 1,000 people to Islam.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, police took custody of Kasmi and Umar.

According to UP ATS, Kasmi and Umar said they along with their associates ran an organisation, Islamic Dawah Center (IDC), which had been carrying out conversions in large numbers. Umar himself had reportedly converted to Islam in the 1980s.

In the video, Umar is purportedly heard saying that the IDC has prepared documents of over 1,000 people.

“It is an old video of Umar, but we will look into it while investigating the case. Umar looks like making a confession while addressing the public during a function,” said a police officer.

He added, Umar is also heard admitting that IDC used to provide all kinds of help, including moral and legal support, to people who visited them. Besides locals, people from other countries, including Germany, America, Singapore and Poland, used to visit the IDC. Umar admitted to have travelled to several countries, including England and Africa.

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