UP ATS Arrest Prominent Muslim Cleric Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui On Charges Of Running Religious Conversion Syndicate

Siddiqui, one of the prominent clerics from western Uttar Pradesh, is currently being grilled by the police post his arrest late last night.

Muslim Cleric Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui (Picture Credit: ANI)

Meerut: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui from Meerut city on charges of running a religious conversion syndicate.

Siddiqui, one of the prominent clerics from western Uttar Pradesh, is currently being grilled by the police post his arrest late last night.

READ: Mahant Narendra Giri Given 'Bhu-Samadhi' At The Banks Of Sangam In Prayagraj

The name of Siddiqui, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, came to light during the inquiry into the case involving Delhi resident Umar Gautam, who was held by the Uttar Pradesh ATS earlier in June on charges of fraudulently converting the people to Islam.

Uttar Pradesh Police ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said Siddiqui runs Jamia Imam Waliullah trust that funds several madrassas for which he received huge foreign funding.

“Investigation shows Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui’s trust received Rs 3 crores in foreign funding, including Rs 1.5 from Bahrain,” he added, ANI reported.

The top cop further said six teams of the ATS have been formed to investigate this case.

Uttar Pradesh ATS Inspector General G.K. Goswami said the syndicate has so far converted around 1,000 people in the country.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan expressed his disappointment with the 64-year-old Islamic scholar’s arrest and lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while calling it an “atrocity on Muslims”.

“Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, a famous Islamic scholar, has been arrested before the elections in Uttar Pradesh. The atrocities on the Muslims are increasing. The silence of the secular parties on these issues is giving more strength to the BJP. How much will the BJP fall to win the UP election?” he tweeted in Hindi.

Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq also hit out at the BJP over Siddiqui’s arrest.

“This is wrong. The BJP government has no work other than harassing Muslims,” he said, ANI reported.