Hindu man lured with job offer, pressured to convert to Islam by Muslim man linked to Chhangur Peer’s conversion racket

Case ID : e274d31 | Location : Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India | Date of Incident : Tue, 22 July, 2025

Case ID : e274d31

Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India

22 July, 2025

Hindu man lured with job offer, pressured to convert to Islam by Muslim man linked to Chhangur Peer’s conversion racket

Predatory Proselytisation

Conversion/ attempts to convert by inducement

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Itwa, located in the Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu man was lured and pressured to convert to Islam by a Muslim man. The accused enticed the man with a job offer and money in exchange for converting to Islam. The Muslim accused also targeted several Hindu job seekers 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. The Hindu victim was identified as Akhand Pratap Singh, while the Muslim perpetrator was Shabbir Ahmad, the manager of Alfarooq Inter College. According to media reports, the Hindu victim had approached Shabbir Ahmad for a job at Alfarooq Inter College. The job request was for the position of clerk, where the Muslim manager proposed to him a salary of Rs. 15,000. During the interview, the Muslim manager requested him to sign a blank stamp paper valued at ₹100 and offered him monetary incentives to convert to Islam. The victim also stated that someone called him on WhatsApp and offered him Rs. 20,00,000 for converting to Islam and was asked to come to a Jamaat (Islamic congregation) in Baroda, Gujarat, to collect it. Following this, Akhand Pratap Singh was pressured to convert his religion. He stated that Shabbir Ahmad acted as an associate of Chhangur Baba and, under the pretext of offering employment, collected signatures on blank stamp papers from Hindus and sent them to Chhangur Baba for financial gain. Disturbed by these events, Akhand Pratap Singh approached the police station and filed a complaint against Shabbir Ahmad. Station House Officer Shyam Sundar Tiwari confirmed that a case had been registered against the manager of Alfarooq Inter College under the relevant sections. He stated that the matter was under investigation and that strict action would be taken based on the evidence. Akhand Pratap Singh also submitted a complaint to the Chief Minister. The police then began conducting further investigation into this case. It is also pertinent to note that the Muslim perpetrator, Shabbir Ahmad, 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- 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 in this case 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. In this case, the nature of the conversion effort, the use of inducements to exploit the Hindu man, demonstrates a targeted action against Hindus as a collectivity. When individuals or groups focus their efforts on converting members of a particular religion, in this case, Hindus, then it demonstrates a fundamental disregard for that faith. Conversion, especially when not based on personal conviction but rather on external persuasion or pressure, is not simply about sharing a different belief system. It is an attempt to undermine the values, traditions, and identity of the Hindu community. In this context, the Muslim manager specifically targeted a Hindu victim, which suggests a lack of respect for Hinduism and its followers. Such actions are carried out with the intention of stripping Hindu victims of their faith, making it an instance of a religiously motivated crime. The victim, Akhand Pratap Singh, was specifically targeted because he was Hindu and vulnerable due to his unemployment. The Muslim perpetrator, Shabbir Ahmad, singled him out knowing his religious background. Instead of offering a genuine opportunity, the Muslim perpetrator used the job proposal as a tool for religious exploitation. This deliberate targeting and exploitation of the vulnerability of the Hindu man demonstrates that the Muslim perpetrator had deep-seated disdain towards the victim's faith. Such actions display the religious motivation behind the crime more evidently. The Muslim perpetrator did not merely exploit the victim’s need for employment; he went further by enticing him with monetary incentives. The use of monetary incentives to encourage conversion clearly demonstrates that these actions were not motivated by kindness or charity. Instead, they were calculated attempts to exploit vulnerable Hindus specifically because of their religion. By providing inducements to the Hindu man to change his faith, the Muslim perpetrator effectively emotionally blackmailed the vulnerable man. This form of coercion strips Hindus of their agency and dignity and enforces forced conversions. These are not random or isolated incidents, but rather are premeditated efforts to undermine the Hindu faith, persuade Hindus to discard their own faith, and convert to Islam. Such acts are deeply rooted in religious animosity towards Hindu victims. 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 Hindu job seekers in a similar manner. The act of preying on the economic vulnerability of 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 the report does not specify the exact date when the victim's ordeal began. Therefore, for documentation purposes, we have recorded the date based on when the incident was reported in the media.