New Delhi: The Delhi police recently uncovered a major conversion racket operating within a shelter home located in the Turkam Gate area in the national capital.
The main accused, Mohammad Kaleem, a B.Tech graduate, was apprehended on June 9 following a complaint filed by the shelter home’s caretaker, Sandeep Sagar.
Sagar alleged that Kaleem had been pressuring him to convert to Islam, offering inducements such as a government job and financial incentives.
The probe has taken a new turn as police teams are now scrutinising Kaleem’s phone records, attempting to ascertain whether he received any external instructions.
“The investigation is currently going on, and we cannot confirm his association with any organisation at this moment. However, we are exploring all possible angles, including whether he was receiving directions from individuals from across the border,” said a source in the know of things.
“The modus operandi is the same as the Ghaziabad conversion racket, where the victims were shown YouTube videos and asked to recite religious verses before beginning any work,” the source said.
According to reliable sources, it has come to light that several terrorist organisations are engaging in radicalisation of youngsters over the past few years, employing them as sleeper cells.
“These sleeper cells have handlers, who activate them when necessary. It is plausible that following numerous failed operations, these terrorist organisations may have adopted a new modus operandi to radicalise and convert individuals within the country,” said a former police officer, who requested anonymity and termed the matter as sensitive.
“After the Ghaziabad conversion racket and the arrest of Kaleem, it seems that someone is behind them, operating from across the border or somewhere else,” he said.
Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Sanjay Kumar Sain, had said that suspicious items have been recovered from the cellphone of Kaleem.
“We received three complaints against him from three different individuals. The accused is a B.Tech graduate. We have lodged an FIR and arrested him. However, before reaching any conclusions, we would like to further investigate the matter,” Sain said.
As per the FIR, Kalim had also forced two Hindu youth, Sujit Kumar and Vicky Sharma, to convert to Islam. Kalim told them that Hinduism had flaws and also made significant efforts to lure them into his trap.
Sagar has also alleged that recently Kalim succeeded in converting a Hindu youth named Sanjeed Kumar to Islam. Sanjeet is now living under the name Abbas.
The investigators have reportedly found videos of controversial preacher Zakir Naik in Kaleem’s phone.
Kaleem, who had worked as an HR manager earlier, had created WhatsApp groups in the name of welfare programmes in which videos and conversion content were regularly posted.
“One of the groups was ostensibly about drug de-addiction. But there was nothing related to de-addiction but only contents related to conversion,” sources said.
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