A 62-year-old man was arrested on Monday for allegedly attempting unlawful conversion in Jograjpur village under Seramau North police station in Pilibhit district, police said.
The incident came to light after Gaurav Gupta, 23, an electrical shop owner in the village, lodged a complaint with police alleging that Anokhe Singh approached Gupta’s shop on Sunday afternoon with pamphlets bearing Bible verses and offering to solve problems related to profession, disease, marital friction and domestic discord.
“He assured me of a government job and marriage to a beautiful woman if I adopted Christianity. When I rejected his offer, he abused me and threatened me with dire consequences,” said Gupta, who called his friends for help and apprehended Singh before handing him over to the police.
Puranpur circle officer Dr Prateek Dahiya said Singh was a resident of Hirankhera village in Moradabad district but had been living in Mailani town of Kheri district. “He had adopted Christianity in a church in Delhi in 1994 and had since been propagating the religion in various villages, often targeting villages near railway halts and stations. He had been estranged from his family for two decades,” said Dahiya.
“A case was registered against Singh under section 3 of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act and sections 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult) of BNS. He was produced before the remand magistrate and sent to jail on Monday,” said SHO Sanjay Kumar.
