Conversion Mafia Busted: Inside UP Police's Operation In Kolkata To Rescue 'Agra Sisters'

News18

3 days ago

News18 delves deep into Mission Asmita, uncovering how a mix of intelligence coordination, cultural camouflage, and digital surveillance helped crack the case.
Wearing kurta-pyjamas, skull caps, and blending seamlessly into a Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of Kolkata, a 48-member team of UP Police and ATS posed as daily wage workers and tenants for five days. Their target was a discreet safehouse where two radicalised sisters from Agra had taken shelter under the influence of a notorious conversion agent. The covert operation culminated in a dramatic rescue and the arrest of Abdul Rehman Qureshi, born Mahendra Pal, who police say is a key player in a sprawling religious conversion syndicate stretching across multiple states. News18 delved deep into the high-stakes rescue dubbed Mission Asmita, uncovering how a mix of intelligence coordination, cultural camouflage, and digital surveillance helped crack open a secretive network.
The breakthrough comes just days after the sensational arrest of Chhangur Baba, another high-profile figure allegedly involved in a parallel conversion racket operating from a temple compound. Both cases, senior officials say, point to a deep-rooted national conspiracy that uses emotional and religious manipulation to radicalise and convert vulnerable individuals, particularly women.
The rescue followed the mysterious disappearance of two sisters from Agra in March 2025. While an abduction FIR was initially lodged, clues pointed towards a deeper conspiracy. Intelligence inputs hinted that the sisters were being held and radicalised in a densely populated locality of Kolkata. The area was flagged as extremely sensitive – known for hostility towards outsiders.
To avoid confrontation and remain inconspicuous, Agra Police deployed Muslim personnel and instructed others to dress in ethnic Muslim attire. Over the next five days, the undercover team tried to locate the safehouse — first by attempting to rent rooms, then by trailing outsiders making repeated visits to a particular home.
Finally, the sisters were found — both in hijab and resistant to leaving. 'Our purpose is fulfilled," they reportedly told police. But after counselling by female officers, the sisters agreed to return. The police moved them to a secure location where their phones were examined. What they found was disturbing — chats, videos, and online material showing the extent of radical indoctrination.
The Woman Who Lit the Spark, And the College Friendship That Enabled It
The sisters' descent into radicalisation began quietly in 2021 when the elder sister, Muskan (name changed), was pursuing her MPhil at Agra's DEI College. There, she befriended a Kashmiri student named Saima, who slowly introduced her to Islamic practices — sharing videos, gifting books on Islam, and encouraging her to wear the hijab. Muskan, once a regular temple-goer, began offering namaz at azaan and opposing rituals at home. Her family's concerns peaked when they confiscated her phone, but by then, she had already started using her younger sister's device — inadvertently dragging her sibling into the same ideological vortex.
Through Saima, the sisters connected with Ritu Banik, who had already converted and taken the name Mohammad Ibrahim. He ran Instagram pages that targeted young Hindu women with promises of safety, identity, and spiritual rebirth. It was Ibrahim who introduced them to Abdul Rehman and his underground network — offering them a life free from oppression, police said.
Abdul Rehman and a 200-Person Network with Global Ties
Police investigations have revealed that Abdul Rehman Qureshi, formerly Mahendra Pal, is not just a lone preacher but the alleged kingpin of a sprawling conversion syndicate that has radicalised and converted over 200 individuals across India in recent years. His operations were not limited to Agra or Kolkata — the network stretched across Delhi, Jaipur, Dehradun, West Bengal, and even as far as Goa. Among those arrested are Aysha, who was traced to a safehouse in Goa; Ritu Banik alias Mohammad Ibrahim, a key social media propagandist; and Osama, a handler who remains on the run.
Digital evidence, including chats and propaganda material, suggests that one of the accused maintained contact with Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. The content accessed and shared among the group included AK-47 imagery, martyrdom glorification, and Islamic State-style messaging — all signs that the sisters were not merely converts but being ideologically primed for possible terror deployment. A senior police official noted, 'Had they not been rescued in time, they may have been used for something much worse."
This has prompted security agencies to reclassify the sisters not just as victims but potential recruits for future interrogation. With confirmed foreign funding, digital indoctrination platforms, and international collaborators involved, police have now invoked charges under the UAPA and organised crime sections of the IPC. A Red Corner Notice is being prepared for one Saud, a Canada-based suspect, as more arrests loom in what officials are now calling one of the largest coordinated religious conversion and radicalisation plots uncovered in recent times.
From Shaheen Bagh to Phulat: The Shadow of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui
Abdul Rehman is believed to have taken over the operations after the 2021 arrest of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui — a prominent Islamic preacher who ran a powerful madrasa network from Phulat village in Uttar Pradesh. Siddiqui, whose institution once hosted high-profile guests like former CEC SY Quraishi and academic Anant Bhagwat, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Allahabad High Court. His arrest left a leadership vacuum in the underground world of conversion syndicates, which, police believe, was quickly filled by Abdul Rehman. Under his leadership, operations shifted deeper into the digital realm — with encrypted channels, fake identity recruitment, and cross-border funding becoming the norm.
The Aftermath: Recovery, Rebuilding, and Red Flags
The rescued sisters are now housed in a secure de-radicalisation facility. Their psychological state, officers say, is fragile but improving. 'The real challenge begins now — not just legally but mentally," said an ATS official. 'They were deeply conditioned to reject family, nation, and everything they grew up with."
Meanwhile, the UP Police and central agencies are expanding their net — scanning call records, financial trails, and online groups that may have been used for indoctrination and recruitment. With links to terrorism, conversion mafias, and international propaganda confirmed, investigators say this is not the end — it's just the beginning.
Following the arrest of Abdul Rehman, UP Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar announced in Lucknow that Rehman was identified based on confessions from earlier detainees. He confirmed Rehman was the 11th arrest in the inter-state conversion network and that police retrieved conversion-themed books and documents from his Delhi residence, including texts by Kaleem Siddiqui. The commissioner also revealed the network's reach: it operated across six states, allegedly converting over 200 individuals with backing from foreign sources, including the US, Canada, and Dubai. Legal actions under UP's anti-conversion law (BNS Sections 87, 111) and organised-crime provisions have been invoked.
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At a press conference, Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna referred to the network as an inter-state 'love jihad' racket, claiming it exploited emotional vulnerability through online radical content, facilitated conversions, and was funded via dark-web channels, echoing ISIS tactics.
From a narrow bylane in Agra to a radical hideout 1,300 km away in Kolkata — the journey of two sisters may have ended in rescue, but their case has blown the lid off a massive, well-oiled machinery of conversion, extremism, and international propaganda. The UP Police now says: 'We've just scratched the surface."
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tags :
Conversion Case UP Police
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Location :
Lucknow, India, India
First Published:
July 23, 2025, 14:42 IST
News india Conversion Mafia Busted: Inside UP Police's Operation In Kolkata To Rescue 'Agra Sisters'
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