Bharuch: A complaint was filed against nine, including a local person Fefdawala Haji Abdul, presently living in London, for allegedly luring over 100 rural tribals from 37 families of the ‘Vasava Hindu’ community in a village in Amod taluka of central Gujarat’s Bharuch district to convert them to Islam using foreign fund. The victims were made to change their faith by offering them money and through other allurements, an Amod police station official said adding that “The accused persons took advantage of the weak economic condition and illiteracy among the members of the tribal community to lure them into conversion to Islam over a long period.”

“The illegal religious conversion activity by Muslim fundamentalists using funds collected from abroad was going on for a long time at the village. The accused persons lured the Vasava Hindu community members by offering them money and other help to convert them fraudulently to Islam by entering into a criminal conspiracy hatched to spread animosity between members of two communities and affect peace,” Bharuch police said in a statement.

A native of Nabipur in the Bharuch district, who currently resides in London, Fefdawala Haji Abdul, would collect funds from abroad for religious conversion, it said. The nine persons were booked under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, as well as sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 153 (B)(C) (act likely to cause disharmony), and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

The nine accused are Shabbirbhai Bakerywala (Amob), Samajbhai Bakerywala(Amod), Abdul Aziz Patel(Kankariya), Yusuf Jivan Patel(Kankariya), Aiyub Barkat Patel (Kankariya), Ibrahim Puna Patel (Kankariya), Fefdawala Haji Abdulla (London), Hasan Tisli (Achhod), Ismail Achhodwala alias Delawala (Maulvi – cleric from Achhod).

The case has been handed over to DySP of SCST cell of Police. The complaint mentions that Pravin Vasant Vasava and others from Kankariya village were given threat not to continue with Hindu faith. According to complaint, a death threat was also given. An alert citizen from Kankariya however filed a complaint.

U.K. based Majlis – e – Alfalah Trust operator Fefdawala’s name had surfaced also in Rs. 60 crore hawala scam and a summon was served to him.