Religious Conversion
UP: SIT probe ordered against senior IAS officer accused of religious conversion
Lucknow/IBNS: The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered an SIT probe against senior IAS officer Mohammad Iftikharuddin as videos were shared alleging that he was preaching religious conversion in his official residence in Kanpur town, according to media reports.
It has been alleged that Iftikharuddin engaged in the alleged act when he was the commissioner of the Kanpur division (2014-2016), according to a Hindustan Times report
In a statement, the state home department said that the SIT probe will be headed by the criminal investigation department director-general GL Meena, while the additional director general of police (Kanpur zone) Bhanu Bhaskar will be its member.
Three short video clips of Iftekharuddin, who is posted as the Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation commissioner in Lucknow, went viral on Monday, the report said.
The complainant, Bhupesh Awasthi, accused Iftekharuddin of asking some people to convert and added that the officer could be involved in religious conversion, the HT report said.
On Monday, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya said the state government was taking the matter seriously. "There will be an inquiry and we will take action after it concludes," he said in response to a question from a journalist, reported NDTV.
In a tweet on Monday evening, Kanpur Police said they were checking if the videos were genuine, and if they show any crime being committed, the report added.
The case emerged three days after Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Muslim cleric Kaleem Siddiqui and his three aides in connection with the conversion of some unidentified people in the state.
Uttar Pradesh Home Department tweeted Tuesday that the SIT will submit its probe report within seven days.
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