NGO members assaulted in Indore over suspicion of religious conversion
The alleged incident took place outside the Indore Press Club where about eight members of an NGO, Howl Group, had come to hold a press conference.
While the local police intervened to stop the assault, Indore Additional DCP, Zone 3, Ramsanehi Mishra, told The Hindu that no formal complaint was received at the local police station.
According to the NGO, it has been working in various sectors such as education and health in Shukrawasa village in neighbouring Dewas district.
In a statement, Howl Group said that a 'misinformation campaign' had been going on against it for a few months in Dewas after which the NGO had called a press conference to respond to the allegations.
Local reports from Indore, however, said a group of right-wing activists assaulted NGO founder Sourav Banerjee and other members, including women, alleging that they had been running a 'conversion racket' in the village to convert locals into Christianity.
After this, as the NGO members prepared to go to a police station, they were attacked again, with the right-wing activists also blackening the faces of some members. A purported video of the incident also surfaced on the Internet.
All false, says founder
After the alleged assault, Mr. Banerjee told reporters that the allegations were false.
'We have been working in Shukrawasa, and the suspicion around (religious) conversion is completely baseless. Let them bring even a single person whom our NGO has converted,' he said, while accusing the right-wing members of attacking his team without any evidence.
Dewas Additional SP (Rural) Harnarayn Batham said parents of some of the students working with the NGO had alleged that their children have been 'brainwashed' by the group members.
'The police are investigating the matter. We will take appropriate action after examining all facts of the matter,' he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
34 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Durg prison authorities in Chhattisgarh assure LDF delegation from Kerala of shifting ailing nuns to district hospital
The authorities at the Durg Central Prison in Chhattisgarh have promised to shift the incarcerated and reportedly ailing Keralite nuns Vandana Francis and Preeta Mary of the order of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI), to the district hospital, according to members of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) delegation that visited the duo at the prison on Wednesday (July 30, 2025). The Chhattisgarh police had arrested the nuns at the Durg railway station on July 25 after local activists of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu right-wing organisation, mobbed them on the charge of attempting to spirit away three women, including a tribal, to Agra for 'forced conversion to Christianity'. The police have charged the nuns under Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for trafficking and under Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act, 1968. The charges entail imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of not less than ₹2 lakh. Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) would move the District Sessions Court in Durg to secure bail for the nuns. Speaking to reporters outside the prison, Annie Raja, general secretary of National Federation of Indian Women and member of national secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI), said the nuns, given their health, found the prison conditions unbearable. 'The nuns have to sleep on the floor, despite one of them having arthritis. We have requested the authorities to provide them with beds. The nuns have no access to the medicines they consumed regularly to mitigate various chronic conditions. The sisters were inconsolable when they narrated the physical intimidation and verbal abuse they suffered at the hands of the Bajrang Dal activists as the local police meekly allowed the aggressors to conduct a kangaroo court and inquisition at the railway station and later at the local station house,' Ms. Raja said. She said the local authorities hustled away the three women who were travelling with the nuns to Narayanpur to avoid them meeting the LDF delegation. However, the LDF delegation was able to meet Subhuman Mandav, who had accompanied the three women, at the adjacent district jail for males. The local law enforcement had arrested Mr. Mandav, a tribal, on the charge of 'procuring vulnerable women from financially hard-pressed families in his socially backwards community' for conversion to Christianity. Kerala Congress (M) chairperson, Jose K. Mani, MP, alleged that the police allowed the Bajrang Dal activists to assault Mr. Mandav at the station house. Quoting Mr. Mandav, Mr. Mani alleged that the Bajrang Dal activists also coerced the three women to change their statement that they were baptised Christians and had joined the nuns on their own volition and with the explicit and written consent of their parents. 'The fear among Christians in the BJP-ruled States is palpable. Nuns and priests dare not wear their habits or meet members of their laity in Chhattisgarh,' he said. BJP's toxic agenda: Brinda Karat Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader Brinda Karat noted that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had endorsed the charges against the nuns on social media by terming the incident as human trafficking and inducement for religious conversion. 'Mr Sai's words reflected the BJP's toxic agenda to relegate minorities, chiefly Christians, as subaltern citizens in India. The Chief Minister is following the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mandate required of him. The Bajrang Dal's attempt to portray them as foreigners and proselytisers exploiting the State's backwardness for conversion hurt the sisters involved in social work deeply,' Ms. Karat said. CPI(M)'s central committee member K. Radhakrishnan, MP, said the LDF would raise the issue in Lok Sabha again after the Speaker rejected the Opposition's notice for an adjournment debate. CPI(M) leader A.A. Rahim was part of the Left delegation.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Time of India
FIR after man accuses 7 of illegal conversion
Lucknow: Sitapur police on Tuesday lodged an FIR against seven persons after a man accused them of luring him to adopt Christianity by offering him money, house and marriage. According to the complaint filed by Abhishek Kumar (23), a resident of Nakrahiya village, the incident took place on July 28. Abhishek said when he was near Rampur Mathna, he was approached by three local men — Anant Ram and his sons Ramit and Shubhkaran — who told him that a pastor and his wife were conducting a prayer meeting nearby and could help him financially and arrange his marriage if he converted to Christianity. Abhishek said he was taken to a large hall where 40-50 women and 20-25 men were seated. Pastor Vinod Pal Singh of Lakhimpur Kheri, and his wife Jyoti were allegedly preaching Christianity and holding Bibles. Abhishek alleged that they made him drink "blessed water" from a bottle and showed him the Bible while pressuring him to convert. He was promised a house, money in lakhs, and a good marriage in exchange. Two more individuals — Sanjay Maurya and Patiram, both residents of Rampur Mathna — allegedly joined in pressuring Abhishek. Sensing something suspicious, Abhishek stepped out of the hall and contacted local villagers and some members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, who alerted the local police. A police team soon reached the spot and, in Abhishek's presence, recovered three Bibles, bottles of "healing water," oil, sweets, a dholak, and a khanjari (musical instrument)— all allegedly used in the conversion process. A written complaint was then submitted to the police by Abhishek.
The Hindu
15 hours ago
- The Hindu
Pahalgam attackers entered India from Pakistan three years ago: officials
The three Pakistani terrorists involved in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack used 'ultra high frequency wireless sets' to communicate with other operatives and also their aides across the border, a senior government official told The Hindu. They were killed in Dachigam in the Kashmir Valley on Monday (July 29, 2025). The three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, identified as Suleman, alias Faizal Jatt; Hamza Afghani; and Zibran,entered India from Pakistan around three years ago. Last year, they split into two groups, one led by Suleman, and the other by another Pakistani terrorist identified as Musa. 'Freshly infiltrated LeT cadres joined Suleman last year and they were operating in Kashmir Valley,' said a second government official. The three terrorists were said to be hiding in the upper reaches of Dachigam forests, around 20 km from Srinagar, since the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. Also Read | Pahalgam terrorist attack: Terrorists mingled with crowd, herded them towards armed members who killed tourists at Baisaran Suleman was also involved in the attack at a construction company site in Gagangir in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district on October 20, 2024. Seven people were killed in the attack. Since 2021, around 20 to 25 hardened militants are likely to have infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan. One group is currently active in the Jammu region, which had remained free of any major terror activity for the past two decades. A Union Home Ministry official had informed an all-party meeting on April 25 that the Pahalgam attack was suspected to have been carried out by loose groups of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy The Resistance Front (TRF), who are 'operating in the higher reaches.' Also Read | Congress raises questions on security lapses which led to Pahalgam attack The wireless sets, which have a range of 20 km to 25 km, need a clear line of sight and a unique frequency for communication between two devices. 'Though the calls could not be intercepted, the security forces, with the help of a direction finder, picked up the signals on multiple occasions in the forest area, the first signal being intercepted on May 22,' the first official said. Following the interception, the security forces surrounded the Dachigam forests from all possible sides. 'Whenever a signal emanated, the particular area was combed. The areas where the terrorists could be present were eliminated one by one and on July 22, with the help of technical and human intelligence, the location of the three terrorists was narrowed down and the operation was planned in which they were killed,' the first official said. Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had released sketches of three suspects — Adil Hussain Thoker, a resident of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir; Ali Bhai, alias Talha Bhai; and Suleiman, both Pakistani nationals. Also Read | The Resistance Front: The banned organisation behind Pahalgam terror attack However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the three terrorists who had carried out the carnage at Pahalgam were all Pakistanis. Announcing their names, he said Pakistani voter identity cards had been found from two of the terrorists killed during Operation Mahadev on Monday, and Pakistani chocolates were recovered near the bodies. Mr. Shah said the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Army personnel set out on foot for several days to track the devices used by the terrorists. A senior government official said the initial sketches were done based on preliminary investigation and on a photograph that was recovered from the phone of a terrorist killed in December 2024 near Dachigam. 'There were conflicting reports on the number of terrorists at Baisaran meadow on the day of the incident. Eyewitnesses and victims said there were four to six terrorists. After detailed interviews, it was concluded that there were three terrorists and all of them were killed on July 28 during Operation Mahadev,' the second official said. Also Read | Pahalgam attackers not locals; probably got shelter by 'coercion': CM Omar Abdullah The Dachigam forest range has two flanks, one extending towards Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district and another connecting Ganderbal district. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on June 22 arrested Parvaiz Ahmad Jothar and Bashir Ahmad Jothar, two local people who allegedly harboured the terrorists at a dhok (hut), around two kilometres from the Baisaran meadow, around 8 p.m. on April 21 The Home Minister said that ballistic and forensic reports of the two AK-47 and M4 Carbine found on the killed terrorists were matched with the empty cartridges recovered at the Baisaran meadow, leading to the conclusion that the three terrorists were involved in the Pahalgam terror attack.
