Uttar Pradesh’s Chhangur Baba | Baba or black sheep?

For older residents of Rehra Maafi, a village on the outskirts of Utraula city in Balrampur district, outdated photos of Jamaluddin—now referred to as Chhangur Baba—are nonetheless vivid. A skinny, swarthy man from the Pankhiya Muslim group, with six fingers on his proper hand (therefore the moniker Chhangur), biking between villages, promoting trinkets and rings. As soon as elected pradhan, he’s remembered for bridging the Yadav-Muslim divide. On July 5, nevertheless, following a manhunt, when the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested the 70-year-old together with an affiliate, Neetu alias Nasreen, in Lucknow, they described him as the pinnacle of an elaborate and organised unlawful conversion racket with huge attain throughout the state. Certainly, Chhangur had lengthy exchanged his bicycle for a Toyota Fortuner, moved with armed guards and owned a number of properties. In response to the ATS, his operations allegedly spanned pretend identities, international funding, doc forgery and a number of aliases. A raft of significant prices has been introduced towards him and his associates—together with conspiracy to wage struggle towards the state, selling spiritual enmity, dishonest and violating sections of the UP Prohibition of Illegal Conversion of Faith Act, 2021. The police mentioned earlier arrests (on April 8) included Mumbai native Naveen Rohra (husband of Neetu), referred to as Jamaluddin after his conversion to Islam, and Chhangur’s son Mehboob.