UP ATS searches 4 Delhi premises linked to Muslim cleric held in illegal religious conversion case

A special team of the Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday searched the Delhi house of Islamic cleric Kaleem Siddiqui who has been arrested in connection with a probe into alleged illegal religious conversions

New Delhi/Lucknow:A special team of the Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday searched the Delhi house of Islamic cleric Kaleem Siddiqui who has been arrested in connection with a probe into alleged illegal religious conversions, officials said.

The searches were carried out on three other locations linked to Siddiqui in Shaheen Bagh, a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in the national capital, by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the UP Police, the officials said.

The searches were carried out with support from the local units of the Delhi Police in Shaheen Bagh in the Jamia Nagar area, the UP Police said in a statement.

"Searches were carried out at four locations, including the house of Siddiqui, in Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi during which several electronic gadgets and important documents were seized," the UP police said.

Global Peace Centre, an organisation run by Siddiqui, NGO World Peace Organisation and the house of one Abdul Rahman were the other locations searched, the police said.

Six teams of the western UP unit of the ATS and six teams of commandos were involved in the operation on Tuesday afternoon which came in the wake of an order by a special NIA/ATS court, it added.

In June this year, the UP Police had claimed to have busted a pan-India syndicate involved in illegal religious conversions. An FIR was lodged on June 20 and so far, 15 people have been arrested in the case, the officials said.

Those arrested include Siddiqui and his three associates, the officials added.

PTI