Nadiad police bust ‘foreign-funded’ religious conversion racket; one held

Gujarat: Nadiad police have busted an international religious conversion racket and arrested Steven McEwan, who was running a trust. He is accused of bringing people from tribal districts of Gujarat as well as from other states to carry out illegal religious conversions.

Briefing the media, a senior police officer said, “An FIR was filed at Nadiad West Police Station on 9th September under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act. There were two accused in the case, both trustees of the organization called Restoration and Revival Foundation Trust. The accused allegedly used to bring people hailing from ST-SC communities from Dahod, Tapi, Narmada, Bharuch, Anand, and other states of India, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha, Haryana, Punjab, and Delhi, to carry out illegal religious conversions to Christianity without following any due process.”

“The accused Steven McEwan has been arrested in the case, and several videos and photos have been recovered from his devices, showing him carrying out religious conversions,” the police officer added.

The police also stated that ₹1.33 crore had been deposited into the accused’s account over three years, from foreign countries as well as from Gujarat and other states. Further probes into these transactions are ongoing.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that a total of seven batches of people had been brought for religious conversion so far. Authorities had earlier rescued 59 people, including nine minors, and are probing the source of the money. Investigations are ongoing, as the conversions were illegal, conducted without any proper paperwork, and only involved the baptism of the victims. DeshGujarat