Varanasi: Police in the Sakaldiha area of Chandauli district arrested six people on Thursday on charges of illegal religious conversion. According to police, Sakaldiha SHO Bhupendra Kumar Nishad was on patrol with his team when he received a tip off that residents were being lured and encouraged to adopt Christianity, in a house in Itwa village. Police team reached the spot and found several men and women in a large room and some people making religious speeches on public address system, while others were distributing books and pamphlets. Police took six persons into custody, including Dheeraj Singh of Ghazipur district, Rajesh Maurya, Kamlesh Kumar and Ajit Kumar, residents of Chandauli district and Guddu and Dinesh Kumar Patel of Varanasi district. During questioning, they said they had organised a collective prayer meeting and were encouraging people to convert. Police registered a case at Sakaldiha police station under Section 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act (amended 2024). Police recovered seven Bibles, 200 pamphlets, 50 booklets, 1 home theater system, two microphones, a car (UP65AH9024) and two motorcycles (UP63BA5546 and UP67AJ0919). Officials said the recovered material was seized and further legal action against all the accused is underway.
