Hindu sisters targeted and brainwashed into Islam by Muslim conversion gang linked to Chhangur Peer Baba

Case ID : 9957fcf | Location : Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 20 July, 2021

Case ID : 9957fcf

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

20 July, 2021

Hindu sisters targeted and brainwashed into Islam by Muslim conversion gang linked to Chhangur Peer Baba

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Family claims grooming

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Conversion of minor

Case Summary

In Agra's Sadar Bazar, two Hindu women were targeted and brainwashed by a Muslim conversion gang. Members of this gang were involved in forcibly converting several Hindus to Islam and had connections to banned Islamist terror groups such as SIMI, PFI, and Lashkar-e-Taiba. They were also associated with Muslim Peer Chhangur Baba, who was well known for carrying out forced conversions of numerous Hindus to Islam. According to media reports, the older Hindu sister fell victim to brainwashing by the Muslim gang around the year 2021. Following this, in March 2025, two Hindu sisters, aged 33 and 18, went missing from the Sadar Bazar area of Agra. After this, a photograph of one of the sisters holding an AK-47 was circulated on social media, prompting an investigation. The sisters had been brainwashed by the Muslim gang and converted to Islam. Subsequently, they were persuaded to elope from their house and were then kept in a Muslim-majority area of Kolkata. The older sister is an MSc in Zoology and an MPhil graduate. She had been preparing for the NET examination in Agra when she met a woman named Saima, also known as Khushboo, from Jammu and Kashmir. Drawn by her appearance and manner, she became close to her. Saima gradually introduced her to Islamic teachings and sent her videos promoting religious conversion. Eventually, the older sister began wearing a burqa and performing namaz at home. She also convinced her minor younger sister to follow the same path. The younger sister also stated that she was already disheartened at home. She said that her mother would often scold her over her studies or household chores. Seeing her elder sister’s new way of life, she believed it offered greater freedom and meaning. She started following her, thinking it would lead to a better life. The police were informed, and the two women were recovered. The accused members of the conversion gang were arrested. During questioning, the two Hindu sisters told the police they were willing to return home, but only on the condition that the arrested accused be released. The sisters stated that the Muslim perpetrators had done nothing wrong and were only “serving religion.” According to them, if the accused remained in jail, none of them would attain heaven. Police investigations revealed that the gang used social networks, dark web platforms, and dating applications to lure Hindu women. Members initially befriended the women, ensnared them romantically, and then brainwashed them into converting to Islam. The group maintained links with banned terror organisations such as PFI, SIMI, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, and they also received foreign funding to facilitate conversions. Uttar Pradesh DGP Rajeev Krishna explained that the gang had managed to convert hundreds of Hindu women across different states. In response to the illegal conversion activities by the Muslim gang, the Yogi Adityanath administration initiated a special drive named “Mission Asmita” against forced conversions. As part of this, seven special teams from Agra police conducted raids in Kolkata, Jammu & Kashmir, Goa, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Uttarakhand, arresting ten accused, including a woman. The case was registered under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021. It is also pertinent to note that the Muslim gang was part of a larger religious conversion racket orchestrated by a Muslim Peer known as Chhangur Baba. The Uttar Pradesh ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) had recently dismantled this organised network, uncovering its systematic operation aimed at targeting and converting Hindu individuals, particularly women and minors, to Islam. According to the investigation, Chhangur Baba provided financial incentives to Muslim men to lure Hindu women, often under false identities by posing as Hindus, and then pressure them into conversion. Once converted, these women were married off through Nikah ceremonies arranged by Chhangur Baba himself. Authorities also discovered that Chhangur Baba had published a book titled Shijra-e-Tayyaba, intended as a manual to propagate Islam. The ATS investigation revealed that his network operated on a structured incentive model: Rs15–16 lakh was paid for converting Brahmin, Sikh, or Kshatriya women; Rs10–12 lakh for OBC women; and Rs8–10 lakh for those from other castes. He, along with his wife, was arrested on 5th July 2025. The ATS confirmed that the gang had received nearly Rs100 crore in foreign funds to facilitate these illegal conversions across India. Members of his own family were reportedly involved in the operation. The Hinduphobia Tracker had previously documented eight such cases where Chhangur Baba was involved. He used coercion to convert Hindu individuals to Islam. In the first case, Chhangur encouraged a Muslim man named Meraj to lure a Hindu woman named Aarti by posing as a Hindu. Afterwards, Chhangur, along with Meraj, forcibly converted her to Islam and conducted her Nikah according to Islamic customs. Another case involved a Hindu man named Harjeet, who was forcibly converted to Islam by Chhangur. The accused had offered Harjeet incentives and subjected him to harassment and had filed false cases against him in an attempt to persuade him to convert to Islam. Similarly, in another case, in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu man named Sanchit and his wife were lured to convert to Islam with incentives by the Muslim Peer Chhangur. Both victims were also subjected to death threats and were harassed with false cases for refusing to convert. Another such instance was reported in Faridabad, Haryana, where a minor Hindu girl was brainwashed and forcibly converted to Islam by her Muslim neighbours who were part of a Muslim gang run by the Muslim peer Chhangur. After her conversion, her Hindu identity was erased; she was given a Muslim name, compelled to wear a burqa, forced to perform Islamic rituals, and fed meat against her beliefs. She was horrifically exploited sexually, blackmailed using obscene videos, and pushed into prostitution. In another such case of a Hindu woman from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, was lured into a relationship by a Muslim man. The accused pretended to be Hindu and had manipulated and brainwashed her into converting to Islam. The victim had been missing since 2019. The accused was also linked to the Islamic cleric Peer Chhangur. In another such case, a Hindu woman named Rashmi (name changed) from Karnataka was trafficked to Saudi Arabia and subjected to years of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse as part of a systematic religious conversion racket operated under the influence of Islamic Peer Jalaluddin alias Chhangur Baba. Under false pretences of marriage and employment, the woman was entrapped, manipulated, and eventually transported across international borders. In another such case, in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu woman was lured into a romantic relationship and subsequently married by a Muslim man named Tabish Asgar. The accused had posed as a Hindu youth while deceiving the woman into a relationship and married her as per Hindu rituals. After marriage, the accused exerted pressure on the victim to renounce Hinduism and adopt Islam, but was not successful. He then took her to Muslim Peer Chhangur alias Jalaluddin, who is known for converting several Hindus to Islam by use of force, deception, and coercion. There, she was also coerced and enticed with incentives to adopt Islam. In another case, in Ranipokhari, Uttarakhand, a young Hindu woman became the target of an organised Muslim conversion gang who attempted to forcibly convert her to Islam through online grooming, emotional pressure, and inducements. This conversion gang was connected to Chhangur Peer.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the primary category- Predatory Proselytisation. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category selected is- 'Family claims Grooming', Conversion of minor and '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. This case clearly demonstrates a targeted hate crime against Hindus. The Hindu sisters were brainwashed and forcibly converted to Islam by a highly organised Muslim conversion gang. The gang’s methodical strategy involved emotional and psychological manipulation, preying on the vulnerabilities of the Hindu women to destabilise their faith and identity. Their actions went far beyond mere individual persuasion, representing a coordinated assault on the Hindu community’s beliefs and values. While it is acknowledged that the first victim is an adult and has the right to choose or change her religion, this case stands apart because the conversion was not a result of free will or informed choice. Instead, it followed a calculated and gradual process of grooming, manipulation, and indoctrination carried out by members of an organised conversion racket linked to Muslim cleric Peer Chhangur Baba. The victim was emotionally manipulated through peer influence and subtly coerced into abandoning her Hindu identity and adopting Islamic practices. The details of this case reveal that the other Hindu victim was targeted when she was a minor. It is a well-established fact that children are more susceptible to manipulation since they are still developing emotionally, cognitively, and socially. Their brains are not fully mature, making them more vulnerable to influence and less capable of critically evaluating information. Consequently, cases involving religious manipulation of minors not only represent an infringement on an individual's religious freedom but also demonstrate a calculated strategy of targeting those who are less able to resist or understand the long-term implications of conversion, making it a significant case of religiously motivated hate crime. The gang’s impact extended much further than just religious conversion. The women were not only disoriented from their faith but were also radicalised. They were manipulated to the extent that they posed with weapons such as AK-47s, showcasing that they were brainwashed to sympathise with Islamist extremist ideology. This escalation from religious conversion to involvement with Muslim extremists reveals the group’s goal of eroding the Hindu identity while introducing the women into a network of Islamic radicals. Such acts are not simply personal betrayals but deliberate attacks intended to promote fear, division, and instability among the Hindu community. Moreover, this was not an isolated event; the Muslim gang operated across state lines and targeted hundreds of Hindu women for conversion. With connections to banned Islamist terrorist organisations and foreign funding, this campaign amounted to an orchestrated attack on the Hindu community, designed to disrupt and weaken it at its roots. The scale and systematic nature of these activities point squarely to a pattern of institutionalised hate and religious enmity towards Hindus and their religion. Furthermore, the Muslim conversion gang was not acting alone but was part of a wider network led by Chhangur Baba, known for orchestrating forced conversions and manipulating vulnerable people, especially Hindu women, into abandoning their faith. This affiliation demonstrates that the crime was part of a broader, organised effort to target the Hindu community through deceit, manipulation, brainwashing, and coercion, defining it as a hate crime with significant communal and religious implications. It has been proved that Peer Chhangur for running a huge conversion racket and was giving money to Muslim men to lure or coerce Hindu women to Islam. The prices were fixed based on the caste of the Hindu women. This establishes a deliberate and targeted pattern of predatory proselytisation amounting to a hate-driven campaign against Hindus. The Chhangur Baba case is not merely an individual crime but a manifestation of a larger ideological campaign aimed at the gradual Islamisation of India. This agenda seeks to erode Hindu identity and alter the country's demographic and cultural fabric. Muslim extremists often harbour deep-seated animosity towards Hindus and view India as a Hindu collectivity that must be dismantled or subdued. The ideological roots of this mindset go back to the very basis of the Partition of India, which was that the Muslims believed that Islam was a nation unto itself, which could not survive with a Hindu collectivity like India. Historically, Islamic conquests have not always relied solely on military force; they have also operated through psychological coercion, forced conversions, and cultural erasure. This case reflects the continuation of that same mindset in modern forms. In summary, this case constitutes a deliberate campaign to convert Hindu women to Islam by brainwashing and manipulation. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that none of the media sources covering this case have specified the exact date and month when the victim's ordeal began. The earliest indication is that her brainwashing started four years ago, that is, year 2021. Since Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began and not when it was reported, and the media reported this case on 21st July 2025, we have used an indicative date of 21st July 2021 as the date of the incident. Disclaimer: In this case, one of the victims was targeted when she was a minor. Accordingly, in the victim details, she has been counted as a minor.