A United States of America (USA) national and his aide arrested in Pimpri city of Pune district in Maharashtra were for allegedly trying to convert a man to Christianity by promising financial help, police said on Monday, reported the PTI.
Pimpri Chinchwad Police also apprehended a minor for his alleged role in the incident and later handed him over to his parents.
The accused persons are identified as Schaefer Javin Jacob (41), a resident of California in the US, currently staying near Mukai Chowk in Pune, and Steven Vijay Kadam (46), a resident of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation area, according to the PTI.
The complainant, Sunny Bansilal Danani, claimed that Jacob and Kadam tried to convert him by visiting his residence on July 27, police said, as per the PTI.
“They claimed that converting to Christianity would bring Danani peace, prosperity, and mental well-being. They allegedly told the complainant that Jesus Christ is the only God and that other deities and religions are fictitious,” said a police officer, the news agency reported on Monday.
The duo purportedly promised financial assistance to the complainant if he changed his faith, police stated.
Pimpri Police registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and the Foreigners Act on a complaint lodged by Danani.
“Both the accused have been arrested, and the minor involved in the case was handed over to his parents,” said the officer, the PTI reported.
Two nuns among three held in Chhattisgarh over `forced religious conversion`
Meanwhile, in an another incident, three persons, including two nuns, were arrested at Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh over alleged human trafficking and forced religious conversion, a Government Railway Police (GRP) official said on Sunday, reported the PTI.
The accused, identified as Sukaman Mandavi and nuns Preeti Marry and Vandana Francis, were apprehended on Friday, he said.
The action was taken following a complaint by a local Bajrang Dal functionary, accusing the trio of forcibly converting three girls from Narayanpur and trafficking them, the official said, as per the PTI.
A case was registered under the Chhattisgarh Religious Conversion Act and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act after the statements of the girls and interrogation of the three accused, the official said.
“The girls said the nuns were taking them to Agra in Uttar Pradesh on the pretext of jobs. The girls said that Mandavi had brought them to Durg railway station, from where they had to go to Agra with the two nuns,” the GRP official added, the news agency reported.
(with PTI inputs)