Four Arrested Over Suspicion of Religious Conversion in Chhattisgarh

Bagicha SDOP Cyril Ekka said that mission officials were preaching in relation to conversion.

Police in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district on Monday, 20 December, arrested a Christian priest and three pastors for allegedly preparing for religious conversion under the guise of a healing mission.

(Photo: Screenshot of the gathering in Pasiya village, Chhattisgarh.)

Police in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district on Monday, 20 December, arrested a Christian priest and three pastors for allegedly preparing for religious conversion under the guise of a healing mission.

The complaint was lodged by officials of the Tribal Security Forum when a large health mission was organised in the Pasiya village under the Bagicha police station.

The officials claimed that for two days in the village, people were being cheated by being treated by the healing mission. The revenue department and the police team reached the spot to investigate the alleged suspicion of religious conversion.

The Bible and other religious belongings of the four accused Father Arun Kujur, Pastor Basant Lakra, Pastor Salmon Tigga, and Pastor Dino Kujur, were seized.

Meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Jan-Jaati Suraksha Manch president who had filed the complaint along with Chanddev, vice president of the Tribal Security Forum, said, "I work for Hindutva. There has been a big conspiracy of religious conversion. The four were arrested and throughout India, anyone trying to do this should be pubished."

He also praised the police for arresting the four accused.

Bagicha SDOP Cyril Ekka said that when the police reached the spot, a lot of villagers and mission officials were present. He added that the mission officials were preaching in relation to conversion.

Ekka further informed that the four accused were booked under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act.