From selling gemstones on a bicycle to reportedly operating a huge illegal religious conversion racket, Jalaluddin Shah's tale goes by the name 'Chhangur' Baba and has become the center of attention for the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) as well as for the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Chhangur Baba, who has been tagged as the 'mastermind' of this so-called conversion racket, was picked up by the UP ATS on Saturday. Within a week, the ATS got the custody of him and his accomplice Neetu, aka Nasreen. They are charged with sequentially converting people from Hindu and other non-Muslim faiths to Islam.
Chhangur Baba's makeover is dramatic. After years spent travelling around rural Uttar Pradesh as an astrologer, his existence was transformed by time spent in Mumbai and Saudi Arabia. In an earlier Hindustan Times story, it was during these years that he is said to have forged powerful networks.
In the past ten years, he re-invented himself as 'Peer Baba' or Hazrat Jalaluddin, functioning like a Sufi missionary from an ashram near the Chandaulia Baba shrine in Balrampur, near the Nepal frontier.
The seniors police officials say Chhangur Baba and his gang are accused of having accumulated a property empire worth more than Rs. 300 crore. Their properties range from luxury vehicles, bungalows, to scores of properties, many in the name of the accomplices or NGOs, located in Balrampur, the surrounding districts, as well as in Pune in Maharashtra.
A top official said, "Chhangur Baba and his colleagues had visited various Islamic nations more than 50 times in recent years."
Officials suspect foreign funds are connected to the Rs. 106 crore in suspicious transactions that have emerged on over a dozen bank accounts associated with NGOs formed by the group.
During the ATS inquiry, it came to light that Chhangur Baba floated at least 40 organisations, opening as many bank accounts in their names. A senior government official privy to the investigation informed Hindustan Times, "Besides, the kingpin has floated as many as 40 different organisations and opened as many bank accounts in their names. The investigation by UP ATS found the transactions of more than Rs. 100 crore from these bank accounts in recent years and they suspect foreign funding behind all these transactions."
The ED has intervened now, launching a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Among the highlight deals is a Rs. 16 crore Pune land transaction involving a court clerk from Utraula and his wife. Police observe that though the transaction was done at the circle price, its market value must be more than Rs. 200 crore now. Both the clerk and his wife are now accused.
A three-bigha land in Madhpur village within Uttaraula tehsil in Balrampur was at the heart of this extensive network. Fitted with CCTV and accommodation to seat more than 50, the land functioned as an operations nerve centre before it was levelled for being constructed on gram sabha (government) land. The land was owned by Nasreen.
The investigators told that Nasreen and her husband had previously been indoctrinated by Chhangur Baba in Mumbai before establishing their home in Balrampur and taking on Islamic identities.
Police consider that the modus operandi included enticing economically vulnerable individuals with money and threatening false cases to force conversions. In some cases, measures related to 'love jihad' also came into play. One such case is of Lucknow's Gunja Gupta, who was allegedly enticed by Abu Ansari in the guise of 'Amit', converted, and renamed Aleena Ansari.
The authorities found a sort of rate card: Rs. 15-16 lakh to make Brahmin, Sardar, or Kshatriya girls, Rs. 10-12 lakh to make OBCs, and Rs. 8-10 lakh for others from different castes.
Chhangur Baba and Nasreen were arrested on July 5 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Jamaluddin, the husband of Nasreen, and Mehboob, son of Jalaluddin, had been arrested in the same matter earlier in April. The ATS is continuing to hunt for another 14 suspects.
The investigation got underway after the intelligence agencies reported unusual financial transactions and suspicious behavior in Madhpur village. Authorities emphasize the fact that the probe is active and could expose even deeper networks, clandestine properties, and deeper foreign connections.
This incident has also brought back memories of a 2018 event in Yamunanagar, when a student aged 18 killed his school principal, showcasing how violence in the name of ideology is nothing new for the region.
