Lampooning claims that 400 people were allegedly ‘converted through online apps’, the Maharashtra Congress termed it “as bogus as the contentions of ‘The Kerala Story’ film”, here on Monday.
State Congress Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan said that after listening to some telephonic conversations, the Uttar Pradesh Police from Ghaziabad rushed to Thane and arrested one local youth to publicise the issue of alleged conversions to Islam.
“We challenge the government to publish the list of those 400 persons who have allegedly converted as per the wild claims,” Khan said.
He pointed out how the controversial film “The Kerala Story” also made such baseless claims that 30,000 women were converted and recruited by the IS, and how the film was screened widely during the recent Karnataka assembly elections.
“The film was promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. However, when the issue reached the courts, the film-makers themselves clarified that it was a work of fiction. The people of Karnataka also rejected it outright. The Mumbra story of 400 alleged conversions is equally fake,” said Khan.
A Thane Court on Monday granted transit remand to the prime accused Shahnawaz Khan, a.k.a. Baddo — in the alleged conversion case through gaming app — and ordered to be presented before a Ghaziabad court within three days.
Khan, 23, a resident of Devripada (Thane) was tracked and nabbed by the Mumbra Police in the district from a resort in Alibaug (Raigad district), and today handed over to a 4-member team of Ghaziabad Police camping here for the past six days.
Absconding for several days since the alleged conversion racket erupted in Uttar Pradesh, Khan was reportedly in touch with some children who were targeted through a gaming app, ‘Fortnite’.
Following complaints of this and other alleged ‘conversions through app scam’, the Kavinagar Police Station of Ghaziabad lodged a FIR on May 30 against Khan.
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