Hindus lured with inducements and subjected to denigration of their faith to convert to Islam by Muslim cleric; accused part of Chhangur Peer's conversion racket
Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 
7 September, 2025
Case Summary
In Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus were targeted for forced Islamic conversion by a Muslim cleric named Saeed. The accused lured Hindus with material inducements to convert to Islam and brainwashed them by asserting Islam’s supremacy and denigrating Hinduism and Hindu deities. The Muslim accused also targeted several Hindus in a similar manner and was involved in the conversion racket of the Muslim peer, Chhangur Baba. Chhangur Baba is well known for forcibly converting several Hindus to Islam by use of financial inducements, coercion, deception, and brainwashing. According to media reports, this incident occurred on 8th September 2025, in the Deurpur market of the Kaptanganj police station area of Azamgarh district, when local Hindus caught Saeed, a resident of Sitapur, on the charge of conversion. They thrashed him, tore his clothes, and handed him over to the police. A video of the accused, Saeed, went viral on social media, in which he was seen pressuring Hindus to convert to Islam. The police registered a case and began investigating. Shubham Pandey, a Hindu victim and a resident of Purkhipur village of Atraulia police station area, lodged a complaint. He stated that Saeed worked as a hawker. Saeed had called him to the Deurpur market and offered him various temptations to convert to Islam. When he refused, the accused threatened and abused him. The accused also launched denigrating slurs at Hindu deities and the Brahmin community. Shubham further stated that the accused had already converted many Hindus. He also stated that Saeed, along with many other people, travelled to many villages under the pretext of selling clothes to convert Hindus to Islam. Subsequently, the police were informed about this incident. They reached the spot and took the accused to the police station. The video of the incident, meanwhile, continued to go viral on social media. SP Rural Chirag Jain directed the Kaptanganj police station in-charge to register a case against the accused and carry out an investigation. The complainant, Shubham Pandey, demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter, stating that the accused was connected to Chhangur Baba. He urged the authorities to take the case seriously and enforce strict action. In the case of Chhangur Peer, 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 pressured 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 involved in the operation. The Hinduphobia Tracker had previously documented several 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.
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- 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 subcategory selected is- Attempting to convert/converting by denigrating Hinduism. In several cases, Hindus are converted or an attempt is made to convert Hindus by denigrating their faith, Hinduism. In such cases, the Hindus associate with the non-Hindu perpetrators often by choice and then, the attempt to convert them by insulting their faith, showing the faith down etc begins. An example of this would be a non-Hindu gathering where the Hindus are attending the gathering of their own free will. However, once they attend the gathering, there is an explicit attempt to convert them by abusing their faith and hailing the faith of the perpetrator. The denigration of the Hindu faith is often based on misrepresentation of the Hindu faith, its doctrine and scriptures and insult to espoused traditions if not blatant lies about Hindu beliefs and ways. Such conversions or attempts at conversions are driven by animosity towards the Hindu faith and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other subcategory selected is- Harassment, threats, coercion for conversion. Harassment covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, including threats and coercion. Harassment and threats, in this case, find their root on discriminatory grounds which has the effect of nullifying a person’s rights or infringing upon his freedom to exercise his right specifically owing to the victim’s religious identity. Verbal and physical threats and psychological or physical harassment are often used against Hindu victims because they choose to practice their professed religion. Religious harassment also includes forced and involuntary conversions by harassment, threats or coercion. Coercion includes intimidatory tactics like force-feeding a Hindu victim beef to convert to another religion, forceful circumcision etc. In several cases documented, non-Hindu perpetrators or those who harbour specific animosity towards Hinduism, harass victims simply based on their religious identity. Such cases often also include harassment to ensure the Hindu victim abandons his/her professed religion and adopts the religion of the perpetrator. Such cases where Hindu victims are harassed to convert to the perpetrator’s religion are rooted in animosity towards the victim’s religious identity and are therefore documented as religiously motivated hate crimes. The other subcategory selected is- Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination. 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. Another primary category relevant in this case is- Hate Speech against Hindus. Within this, the subcategory selected is- Anti-Hindu slurs, mocking faith. Anti-Hindu slurs and the deliberate mocking of the Hindu faith owing to religious animosity involve the usage of derogatory terms, stereotypes, or offensive references to religious practices, symbols, or figures. One of the common anti-Hindu slurs used against Hindus is “cow-worshipper” and “cow piss drinker”. The intention of using this term is to demean and mock Hindus as a group and their religious beliefs since Hindus consider the cow holy. Additionally, some symbols and the slurs attached to them have a historical context that exacerbates the insult, hate, stereotyping, dehumanisation and oppression against Hindus. Cow worship has been used for centuries to denigrate Hindus, insult their faith and oppress Hindus specifically as a religious group. There has been overwhelming documentation about how cow slaughter has been used to persecute Hindus with cow meat being thrown in temples and places of worship. There has also been overwhelming documentation where cow meat (beef) has been force-fed to Hindus to either forcefully convert them to Islam or denigrate their faith. Apart from cow worship, the Swastika – which holds deep religious significance for the Hindus – has also been misinterpreted and distorted to use as a slur against Hindus. Similarly, the worship of the Shivling has been used by supremacist ideologies and religions to denigrate Hindus owing to religious animosity. Such slurs and denigration stem out of inherent animosity and hate towards Hindus and their faith, therefore, it is categorised as hate speech targeted at Hindus specifically owing to their religious identity. This case is a clear instance of an anti-Hindu hate crime because it combined coercion, inducement, abuse, and denigration, all directed specifically at Hindus and their deeply revered faith. The intention behind the actions was not kindness or persuasion, but hostility towards Hinduism, manifested through coercive conversion attempts and insults aimed at sacred beliefs. Firstly, the Muslim accused, Saeed, actively sought to coerce Hindus to abandon their religion by offering them material inducements. By presenting such temptations as a means to convert, he attempted to undermine the Hindu faith of the victims and replace it with Islam. These inducements were not benign gifts but tactics of religious manipulation, rooted in animosity towards Hinduism. Efforts to lure people away from their religion in this manner represent a targeted and prejudiced attack on the freedom of Hindus to practise their faith without interference. Such instances are rooted in hostility towards Hinduism and the Hindu community, making it a religiously motivated crime. Beyond inducements, the Muslim accused also engaged in explicit denigration of Hinduism. He insulted Hindu deities—figures held sacred and worshipped by millions—while simultaneously promoting the supremacy of Islam. Attacking revered gods directly targeted the spiritual core of the Hindu community, with the intention of eroding their faith. Such denigration highlights that this was not only an attempt at conversion but also a deliberate act of religious hatred. By positioning Islam as superior, the accused sought to delegitimise Hinduism in its entirety and confuse or manipulate Hindu individuals into discarding their ancestral belief system, making it a religiously motivated offence. Furthermore, the Muslim accused extended his abuse to the Brahmin community, launching derogatory insults at them to deepen the attack on Hindu society. Brahmins, as custodians of rituals and traditions, often symbolise the strength and continuity of the Hindu faith. Targeting them served as a way to scapegoat and vilify an entire community, reinforcing the anti-Hindu animus behind his actions. This shows that the intent was not just conversion but also humiliation and degradation of Hindus as a collective. The accused’s actions also carried the element of threat. Shubham Pandey, the complainant, stated that when he refused inducements, the Muslim accused threatened him. Such threats reveal coercion driven by hostility: Hindus were not left free to make choices about their faith but were pressured under duress, insult, and manipulation. Threatening individuals for resisting conversion is a direct violation of their religious freedom and showcases the aggressor’s animosity. This makes the religious motivations behind the crime very evident. Furthermore, another point to highlight is that the Hindu victim said that the Muslim perpetrator had similarly targeted several Hindus to convert to Islam. This instance showcases that this was not an isolated incident. Instead, the Muslim perpetrator had devised a wider scheme, targeting multiple Hindus in a similar manner. The act of targeting Hindus and forcing them to convert to Islam showcased a concerted effort by the Muslim perpetrator to single out Hindus for conversion. This makes it a religiously motivated crime against the Hindu community. Furthermore, it is important to note that the accused was part of the conversion racket of Muslim Peer Chhangur Baba. Chhangur is well known for orchestrating forced conversions and manipulating vulnerable Hindus into abandoning their faith and converting to Islam. 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 forcibly convert Hindu individuals to Islam. Therefore, this case is being added to the hate crime database. Disclaimer: It is important to clarify that media reports stated that several Hindus were converted to Islam by the accused, Saeed. But the reports specifically named only one victim, Shubham. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we are recording the victim count as ‘1’, referring to Shubham alone. Note: Hinduphobia Tracker has previously documented several cases related to Islamic conversion efforts linked to Chhangur Baba. To read them, please visit our website: "hinduphobiatracker.org".
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 1
- Unknown 0
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0
Case Status
Arrested
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
One Person
Perpetrators Gender
male
Sources 
