Jamaluddin, alias Chhangur Baba
Global Conversion Network Targets Hindu Women
Lucknow: Women claiming to be victims of a religious conversion network led by Jamaluddin, alias Chhangur Baba, today shared harrowing allegations of coercion, torture, and forced conversions to Islam at a press conference in Lucknow, organized by the Vishwa Hindu Raksha Parishad, as investigations into the Balrampur-based racket intensified. One woman, renamed “Zainab,” recounted being lured in 2019 through a man claiming Chhangur Baba could help her father quit alcohol, only to be forcibly married in 2024 and coerced with blackmail videos. Another described being locked in a room, tortured, and threatened, while a third alleged targeting after her husband’s death with demands for conversion. The women reported death threats after reverting to Hinduism. The network targeted vulnerable Hindu women, with over 3,000 to 4,000 individuals, including 1,500 women, reportedly converted, using a caste-based rate list—Rs 15-16 lakh for Brahmin, Kshatriya, or Sikh women, Rs 10-12 lakh for Other Backward Classes, and Rs 8-10 lakh for other castes—linked to Rs 106 crore in 40 bank accounts and suspected foreign funding of Rs 500 crore from Middle Eastern countries, spanning districts like Ayodhya and Gorakhpur.
Jamaluddin and his associate Neetu, alias Nasreen, were arrested on July 5, 2025, by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad in Lucknow, following investigations into their activities in Balrampur’s Utraula area, near the India-Nepal border. A diary seized by the ATS listed over 100 names, mostly young women and minor girls, allegedly lured through deceit, romantic relationships, or intimidation. One case involved Gunja Gupta from Lucknow, coerced into converting and adopting the name Aleena Ansari after being drawn into a relationship by Abu Ansari, posing as “Amit.” At the July 14 press conference, one woman, renamed “Zainab” by Chhangur Baba, detailed how, in 2019, her mother met a man who introduced them to Chhangur Baba, promising help for her father’s alcohol addiction. The family received a taweez and prayers, but in 2024, the same man took her to meet Chhangur Baba in Kanpur. She was then taken to a mosque in Fatehpur, forcibly married to Meraj Ansari, and coerced into Islamic practices under threat of blackmail using secretly recorded videos, stating she never accepted Islam. Another victim alleged she was tortured, confined for days, and pressured to convert, with threats against her family if she resisted. A third woman claimed the network exploited her widowhood, offering financial aid but demanding conversion, taking her to a secluded location and coercing her to sign documents under threats of violence. One victim reported threats to kidnap her daughter if she continued speaking out, with all noting death threats via social media and letters after reverting to Hinduism.
The Vishwa Hindu Raksha Parishad alleged the network was part of a global conspiracy to convert Hindu women, funded by foreign entities, to destabilise India’s social fabric. VHRP president Gopal Rai stated that around 6,000 people in Balrampur and nearby districts were converted through financial lures and forced marriages. The organisation arranged a “ghar wapsi” ceremony for 15 individuals, including some who spoke, at Lucknow’s Shanidev temple on July 3, 2025, involving Hindu rituals like hawan-pujan and wearing saffron clothing. VHRP claimed the conversions used tactics like offering jobs, cash, and false marriage promises to exploit vulnerable women, demanding action under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
Jamaluddin, once a gemstone and amulet seller, amassed wealth, with Rs 34.22 crore in six bank accounts and Rs 13.90 crore in eight accounts linked to Neetu over four months in 2021. The Enforcement Directorate is probing hawala transactions and funds from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, routed through over 100 bank accounts in Nepal’s border districts like Kathmandu, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, and Banki. Properties linked to Jamaluddin include a Rs 16.49 crore plot in Lonavala, Maharashtra, purchased in 2023 with associate Naveen, and a Rs 3 crore mansion in Madhpur village, Balrampur, built illegally on gram sabha land. On July 8, 2025, the Balrampur administration demolished the mansion, spanning two to three bighas with 70 rooms, 15 CCTV cameras, and a secret control room, along with other illegal structures like a proposed college, hospital, and madrasa.
The network used code words like “project” for women, “mitti palatna” for conversion, “kajal lagana” for manipulation, and “darshan” for introducing victims to Chhangur Baba. Small cash payments of Rs 100-200 per day and jobs like cleaning built trust before pressuring conversions. Jamaluddin’s son, Mehboob, and associate Naveen Rohra, alias Jamaluddin, were arrested in April 2025, with 14 others still sought. The operation extended to Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Lakhimpur, Shravasti, and Bahraich, with links to madrasas and NGOs along the India-Nepal border. Jamaluddin, presenting himself as a Sufi saint and author of Shijra-e-Tayyaba, travelled to Islamic countries over 50 times. A 2022 case in Azamgarh involving a Dalit Hindu family’s forced conversion also named him. The Uttar Pradesh ATS, Special Task Force, National Investigation Agency, and Enforcement Directorate continue to investigate foreign funding, potential national security threats, and connections to local officials, including a judicial magistrate.
– global bihari bureau
