By Neetika Jha
The Ghaziabad Police arrested two men, including a pastor, for allegedly attempting to convert members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) by offering inducements, said officers on Monday. The arrest comes following a complaint by a Bajrang Dal member.
According to police, Pastor Vinod Kunjumon hails from Kerala and currently lives in Sahibabad. The other arrested man is Premchand Jatav, a resident of Rahul Vihar in Ghaziabad. They were arrested on Sunday.
Neighbours, however, said there was no conversion and only prayers were held every Sunday at Jatav’s house.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Wave City, Priyashri Pal, said the arrests were made after police received a complaint from one Prabal Gupta at the Crossings Republik police station on Sunday. “Gupta, in his complaint, alleged he [the pastor] was converting people from SC communities by offering them cash and kind. We have not come to a concrete conclusion yet, but have begun our investigation,” Pal told The Indian Express.
When The Indian Express visited Rahul Vihar on Monday, the single-storey house, where Gupta alleged religious conversion was taking place, was closed, and its gates were damaged.
Satish Anand, 54, a neighbour, said Jatav built this house nearly 30 years ago. “It is not true that he was converting people,” he said.
“He used to hold prayers on Sunday, and people from Rahul Vihar and Buddh Vihar used to attend it. But he never asked anyone to convert,” added Anand, who runs an eatery in the area.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.