Conversion racket busted in Bilaspur, 6 arrested including pastor and organiser
On 6th April, six people including a pastor were arrested for forcibly converting local Hindus to Christianity under the guise of a “prayer gathering” or “healing meeting”. The event was organised in the Bahatarai area under the Sarakanda police station jurisdiction.
As per media reports, Hindu organisations received information about the healing meeting allegedly being organised to convert unsuspecting locals to Christianity. Following the uproar, police reached the spot and arrested six individuals, including Pastor Deepak Singh Sidar, Pooja Sidar, Deepa Gotel, Gurvinder Singh, Shivkumar Dhivar and Madhu Kumar.
According to local Hindu activists, these prayer meetings were being regularly held every Sunday in Atal Awas and other areas of Bahatarai. One of the activists said, “Under the guise of prayer meetings, innocent Hindus are being brought in and slowly pushed towards conversion.”
Further probe in the matter revealed that Pastor Deepak and his wife Pooja had previously conducted a similar gathering on 31st March in Yadunandan Nagar, where a large number of local Hindus were present. All the accused were taken into custody and action was initiated under the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act.
Reacting to the incident, Hindu activist Ram Singh Thakur said that there is a systematic attempt to turn Bilaspur into a “conversion hotspot”. He named regions including Koni, Sakri, Civil Lines and Masturi where similar activities have been reported in the past. He said, “Now even Bahatarai is being targeted. Poor and innocent Hindus are being misled with promises during these so-called prayer meets.”
He further added that Hindus are being enticed with offers and made to change their faith under emotional and social pressure during these meetings. OpIndia accessed the FIR filed in the matter.
Content of FIR
The FIR has been filed on the complaint of Pankaj Pandey under Section 3 of the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act. Pandey, who is a member of a Hindu organisation, said that he received information that Pastor Deepak and his wife Pooja, along with Gurvinder, Shivkumar and Madhu, were conducting a Christian prayer meet where they were trying to convert Hindus by offering them monetary inducements and creating fear based on illnesses.
The complainant, accompanied by fellow organisation members, reached the location and found that around 50 Hindus had gathered and were allegedly being encouraged to abandon their faith. They were being lured to convert to Christianity under the pretext that their health and poverty issues would be resolved through Christian belief.
The complainant pointed out that in the upper portion and in a room in the lower portion, separate prayer gatherings were being conducted with the motive to convert unsuspecting Hindus.
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