Uttar Pradesh police arrested thirteen more accused on 26 December from different locations in Sitapur for their involvement in the forceful mass conversion of villagers to Christianity.

A pastor and five of his associates were arrested in Talgaon, while in Rampur Mathura block, three, including a pastor, were arrested after a face-off resulted between the police team and a group of women who opposed the arrest. Four more people were arrested in Misrikh. Two others in Tambaur were arrested on 27 December.

The police have received complaints from villagers that a group of men was inducing them with offers of jobs, money, and even marriage for converting to Christianity, Sitapur’s Additional Superintendent of Police Narendra Pratap Singh said.

They have been charged under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, and IPC sections for rioting, assault, and use of criminal force to deter public servants from discharging their duty, the Sitapur police said.

Earlier, 10 people had been arrested in connection with the mass conversion racket including a pastor named David Asthana. David and his wife Rohini Asthana, were booked on 19 December under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act for forcing people to convert to Christianity. They had organised a programme along with four Brazil nationals in Sitapur for alluring local villagers to convert to Christianity.