Thane: Maharashtra's Thane police was on Monday granted transit remand by a local court to take Shahnawaz Khan, the prime accused in an Uttar Pradesh case allegedly involving religious conversion of youngsters through an online gaming app, to Ghaziabad, an official said.
Khan, who hails from Mumbra township here, was arrested from a relative's place in Alibaug in Raigad district on Sunday, the official said. "He is being taken to Ghaziabad from Thane by road," the police official said. As per the police, Khan and the cleric of a mosque in Ghaziabad were booked under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act based on a complaint.
A man from Ghaziabad had lodged a complaint with the police last month alleging the cleric and Khan had unlawfully converted his son, who recently passed the class 12 board exam, to Islam. As per the complainant, his son came in contact with Khan through an online gaming app and frequently spoke to him, following which he got inclined towards adopting Islam.
The boy told his father that he had converted to Islam after being convinced by Khan, according to police. Khan, according to police, had been absconding for the last few days and finally landed in their net after changing his locations multiple times. Khan is a resident of Devripada in Maharashtra's Thane district. He is said to be involved in a shampoo production business.
An FIR was lodged against Khan on May 30 at the Kavi Nagar police station in Ghaziabad. It was mentioned in the complaint that he had sold computer gadgets a year ago to a boy belonging to the Jain community in Ghaziabad. Gradually, the two began having frequent and regular conversations. Meanwhile, Khan made the minor boy recite verses from the Holy Quran and "brainwashed" him.
Also read: UP conversion case: Prime accused Shahnawaz Khan arrested from Maharashtra
