7 Muslim men in India tortured by police, framed for converting Hindus

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Seven Muslim men in northern India have accused police of illegally detaining them, torturing them in custody, and forcing them to confess to running a “conversion racket” that allegedly pressured Hindus to embrace Islam. Families say the arrests in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district were arbitrary, lacked legal paperwork, and left relatives in the dark for days.

According to Maktoob Media, the men were picked up in August from homes and workplaces by officers in plain clothes later identified as part of the Bareilly Police’s Special Operations Group. Families said no arrest warrants or first information reports were issued, and in several cases relatives were deceived into signing papers claiming the detainees had “returned home.”

The seven men — Mohammad Abdullah (born Brajpal), Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Arif, Faheem Ansari, Abdul Majeed, Mehmood Beg, and Aqil — were detained on accusations of “forcefully converting three people to Islam.” Families insist the charges are fabricated.

When relatives were eventually allowed brief contact, detainees described brutal treatment inside custody: beatings with sticks, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, and threats against family members. Several said they were forced to sign blank sheets of paper or dictated confessions admitting to conversions. Abdullah’s wife recounted how her husband tried to show torture scars in court, only to be dragged away by officers before she could intervene.

Families also accuse police of erasing evidence of how the arrests took place. In one case, CCTV cameras at a barber’s shop and a nearby hospital were seized, preventing relatives from proving that plainclothes personnel had abducted the accused without legal documentation. Another family alleged officers demanded a bribe of 100,000 India rupees (about $1,200) in exchange for release.

For relatives, the ordeal has been devastating. Children have repeatedly asked why their fathers have not returned home, while wives report detainees being denied medical care. Beg’s wife said she fears for her diabetic husband’s life.

Beyond torture, families and lawyers say police attempted to pressure at least one detainee, Mohammad Abdullah — who had voluntarily converted to Islam in 2014 — into renouncing his faith. Abdullah was reportedly forced to sign papers pledging to reconvert to Hinduism and testify against the others. He was briefly released after signing the documents.

“He was also pressured by the police to give testimony against those who are being framed,” one source said “Abdullah resisted, but police forced him through threats and coercion.”

The practice, known as ghar wapsi or “homecoming,” is not simply a religious ritual but a political campaign led by Hindutva groups to expand Hindu dominance. It portrays Muslims and Christians as “lost” Hindus who must be forcibly brought back into the fold. 

Rights advocates argue that its use by police in this case exposes how state institutions themselves are being deployed to enforce this agenda — criminalizing Muslims for voluntary conversion to Islam while simultaneously coercing them into Hinduism. 

For observers, this represents not law enforcement but the consolidation of a sectarian project where religious freedom is subordinated to Hindu nationalist ideology.

Flimsy accusations

Other detainees were picked up on tenuous grounds. Salman and Arif were arrested for allegedly “influencing” Abdullah because they had attended primary school with him decades earlier. Arif, a mathematics tutor, was told he was only being questioned but later disappeared into custody.

Faheem, a barber, was taken while trimming a customer’s hair and accused of performing Abdullah’s circumcision. Police later seized the DVR from his shop and from a nearby hospital to prevent relatives from collecting evidence of the arrest. “Faheem is illiterate — he cannot even read the Quran,” said his friend Saleem Khan. “How can he be accused of converting people to Islam?”

One detainee, speaking through his lawyer, said: “We were beaten with sticks, deprived of sleep, and forced to sign blank papers. They wanted us to admit to being part of a conversion racket we know nothing about.”

The case reached the Allahabad High Court after families filed habeas corpus petitions arguing that the detentions violated constitutional protections. A bench led by Justices Salil Kumar Rai and Zafeer Ahmad described the allegations as serious and ordered senior Uttar Pradesh Police officials — including the Additional Director General, Inspector General, and Bareilly district chief — to appear in person on September 8.

In its order, the court noted: “If the allegations of illegal detention and custodial torture are true, it amounts to a serious violation of fundamental rights and requires immediate accountability.” Police confirmed they would comply with the summons but declined to comment on torture or reconversion claims.

A wider pattern of abuse

Rights advocates say the Bareilly case reflects a broader pattern in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and a stronghold of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). State-level “anti-conversion” laws, including the 2021 Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, have often been used to target Muslims and Christians, while ghar wapsi drives organized by Hindu nationalist groups have been openly encouraged.

“Whenever authorities announce a so-called conversion racket, arrests follow without transparency or due process,” said one defense lawyer. “These cases are not about protecting freedom of belief but about creating fear.”

For families of the seven detainees, the stakes are immediate. Their husbands, fathers, and sons remain behind bars, accused of crimes they say they never committed, while facing pressure to renounce their faith. 

For observers, the High Court hearing will be a critical test of whether India’s judiciary can hold state police accountable — or whether arbitrary arrests and forced ghar wapsi will remain part of everyday policing in Uttar Pradesh.