Bajrang Dal members targeted with cash inducement for conversion to Christianity in Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 
28 July, 2024
Case Summary
In Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, Alok Chaurasia, a Bajrang Dal coordinator, and his companions were offered money to convert to Christianity. While Alok was on his way to Kashmiria via Chandralok Talkies with his friends Yogesh Jaiswal, Shyam Mohan, and two to three others, they were stopped by two Christian men, G. Raju, a resident of Adilabad, and Ram Avadh Nishad, a resident of Mahripur, Aliganj. The men tried to lure them by promising ₹10,000 each and the construction of a house if they agreed to convert. Locals informed Alok that the same men had been visiting the Harijan colony a few days earlier, attempting to convert poor residents with similar inducements. Both had been engaged in spreading Christianity in the area for a long time, targeting vulnerable people through monetary offers. Alok immediately lodged a complaint at the Aliganj police station. Based on his report, a case was registered against G. Raju and Ram Avadh Nishad under the Religious Conversion Prohibition Act. Both were arrested and sent to jail.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category- Predatory Proselytisation. The sub-category relevant in this case is- Conversion/attempts to convert by inducement. Predatory Proselytisation is not just limited to threat, harassment, force and violence, but it also has contours of stealth. In several cases, the Hindu victim is exploited to convert, with non-Hindus taking advantage of their poverty. In such cases, the Hindu victim who is suffering financially is offered monetary benefits, including lucrative offers for jobs, health treatment, education, etc, to induce the victim into changing his/her religion. In such cases, the religious identity of the victim and the aim to disenfranchise him from his faith form the heart of the crime. Also, taking advantage of and exploiting an individual’s economic vulnerabilities is widely acknowledged as exploitation, forms of which are often penalised by law. Such cases therefore are considered religiously motivated hate crimes since the victim’s religious identity forms the very heart of the crime itself. The other sub-category relevant is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination, and the tertiary category selected is- Pattern of targeting Hindus. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. In this case, Alok Chaurasia and his companions were approached with offers of ₹10,000 each and the promise of a house if they abandoned their Hindu faith and embraced Christianity. This is a textbook example of inducement-driven predatory proselytisation. It directly exploits economic vulnerability to weaken the religious identity of Hindus, using money and material incentives to detach them from their Dharma. The crime is not merely about bribery; the very purpose of the inducement is religiously motivated—to uproot Hindus from their ancestral faith and diminish the Hindu presence in society. By targeting Hindus specifically and offering them material benefits in exchange for rejecting their religion, this act constitutes a deliberate hate crime against Hindus. The accused had been repeatedly attempting to convert people in the locality, especially targeting the poor and vulnerable. Locals confirmed that these men had been visiting colonies and engaging in propaganda for a long time, attempting to manipulate Hindus through persistent offers and promises. This reflects a systematic effort to weaken the Hindu faith and replace it with allegiance to a contrasting religion. Such attempts at grooming and manipulation, carried out over time, are predatory in nature and aim to reshape the victim’s beliefs by eroding confidence in their Dharma. The animosity lies not in physical violence but in the calculated psychological and economic exploitation of Hindus, which still qualifies as a hate crime. The accused were known in the area for repeatedly approaching Hindus in poor colonies and attempting to lure them into conversion. This establishes a broader pattern of targeting Hindus, not out of charity or goodwill, but out of a clear motive to reduce the Hindu population by dismantling their faith through inducement and indoctrination. The consistency of such attempts shows that Hindus as a community are being singled out for predatory proselytisation, making it a targeted religious hate crime aimed at undermining Hindu Dharma itself.
Victim Details
Total Victim
6
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 6
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 6
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 6
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Christian Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male
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