Hindu family forced to convert to Islam by madrasa operated conversion gang in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 
24 August, 2020
Case Summary
A Hindu family of five in Bhojipura, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, was converted to Islam through the operations of a religious conversion gang. Police investigations revealed that the family fell under the influence of the group after a man from the household, distressed following his separation from his wife, came into contact with the gang around five years ago. He was subsequently converted to Islam and married to a woman from the same community. Further inquiry uncovered that the man’s son from his first marriage and another member of the family were also converted. Investigators traced the family’s connection to Mohammad Fahim of Saidpur Chunni Lal village, a key figure in the network. The converted couple had two more children, a boy and a girl, who attend the village anganwadi. Authorities discovered attempts by the woman to alter school records by replacing the children’s father’s name with a Muslim identity, and similar efforts to rename her husband’s son from his first marriage. The case came to light on 24 August 2025, when police rescued Prabhat, a man from Aligarh, from being forcibly converted at a madrasa in Faiznagar village, Bhuta. Acting on a complaint from Prabhat’s mother, Akhilesh Kumari, the Special Operations Group (SOG) and Bhuta police arrested madrasa owner Abdul Majeed, the gang’s ringleader; Salman, a tailor from Kareli village; Fahim, a barber from Saidpur Chunni Lal; and Mohammad Arif of Kareli village. Investigators also found a nikahnama in Urdu linked to the Bhojipura family, confirming their conversion. The police were re-examining call records and other evidence to map the gang’s network. SP South Anshika Verma confirmed that a dedicated team has been deployed to probe the case further. Police confirmed that the madrasa in Faiznagar, used as the hub for conversions, was illegal and is now marked for demolition. Investigations found that the madrasa, set up in 2014, functioned as a “conversion factory” rather than an educational institution, with no government records and fake identification documents tied to its operator, Abdul Majeed. The gang created over 20 WhatsApp groups to target vulnerable Hindu youths, particularly those who were financially weak, living alone, or divorced. Members of the network lured these boys with pornography, promises of multiple wives, wealth, and an easy life upon conversion to Islam. Recruits were invited to the madrasa, indoctrinated with religious teachings, and gradually brainwashed into abandoning their faith. Some victims were taught Urdu and Islamic scriptures, with dreams of becoming clerics to ensure deeper entrapment.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
The primary category in this case is: Predatory Proselytisation. The subcategory under this 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. Another subcategory under this is: Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. The tertiary category under this 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 the 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 proselytisation, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. This case has been added to the tracker because it demonstrates Predatory Proselytisation through conversion by inducement and manipulation, and a pattern of targeting Hindus. The Bhojipura family of five was deliberately targeted by a religious conversion network that exploited the family’s vulnerabilities, particularly the emotional distress of the father after separation from his wife, to lure him into conversion. The man’s subsequent marriage into a Muslim family, the conversion of his children, and attempts to erase their Hindu identity through name changes show a calculated effort to disconnect them from their faith and heritage. Predatory Proselytisation is recognised as a religiously motivated hate crime because the victim’s Hindu identity is at the core of the crime. Rather than being an act of free will, the conversion was facilitated through exploitation, manipulation, and psychological pressure, with perpetrators leveraging trust and relationships to indoctrinate and reorient victims’ beliefs. This reflects a deeply malicious intent to diminish and disenfranchise Hindus as a religious group. The Bhojipura case also fits the category of proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, and manipulation. The perpetrators systematically attempted to reshape religious beliefs within the household, including the younger children, highlighting the multi-generational impact of such predatory activity. The use of nikahnamas, name changes, and stealthy efforts to rewrite records demonstrates deliberate erasure of the family’s Hindu identity. This case adds to a documented pattern of targeting Hindus through religious conversion networks across Uttar Pradesh and other states. Similar cases repeatedly show Hindu families being singled out, exploited, and pressured to abandon their faith through inducement and manipulation, not voluntary choice. Because of this consistent targeting, this case is categorised as part of a larger trend of anti-Hindu hate crimes motivated by religious animosity. The Hinduphobia Tracker earlier documented a case connected to the same religious conversion racket that targeted the Bhojipura family. In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, police intervened in time to rescue a visually impaired Hindu man, Prabhat Upadhyay, who was about to be circumcised by members of a well-organised Islamist conversion network led by Abdul Majeed, a madrasa operator from Bhuta. The gang, operating on the lines of the notorious Chhangur Peer syndicate, focused on vulnerable Hindus and used a mix of deceit, emotional manipulation, and promises of marriage or financial aid to coerce conversions. The operation came to light after Prabhat’s mother, Akhilesh Kumari, filed a complaint at Bhuta police station, reporting that her son had been lured into the group’s custody. Acting swiftly, police raided a madrasa in Faiznagar on 25 August 2025, where preparations were underway for his circumcision and renaming. Officers recovered religious propaganda material, including videos and sermons of radical preacher Zakir Naik, multiple conversion certificates, Aadhaar cards, and bank documents. Abdul Majeed and his key associates, Salman, a tailor; Arif, Salman’s aide; and Faheem, a barber from Saidpur Chunnilal, were arrested and later remanded to judicial custody. This earlier case revealed the scale, sophistication, and intent of the same network implicated in the Bhojipura conversion plot. Both cases reflect a systemic campaign to undermine Hindu identity through targeted inducement, psychological pressure, and exploitation of vulnerabilities. Disclaimer: Media reports state that the victim’s ordeal began nearly 5 years ago, though no exact date or month is provided. To document this case, we have used an indicative date, August 25, 2020, as a placeholder to represent the beginning of his suffering. This is exactly 5 years before the matter got disclosed. While media coverage of the incident emerged on September 1, 2025, the Hinduphobia Tracker records the incident based on when the victim’s ordeal began, not when it was reported.
Case Status
Case sub-judice
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
N/A
Perpetrators Gender
unknown
Sources 
