UP conversion case: Prime accused Shahnawaz Khan held from Raigad district in Maharashtra

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Shahnawaz Khan alias Baddo, the prime accused wanted by Uttar Pradesh police for allegedly operating a racket involved in the religious conversion of youngsters through an online gaming application, has been arrested from Raigad district of Maharashtra, an official said on Sunday, reported the PTI.

The suspect was arrested from Alibaug town in Maharashtra, according to the PTI.

The Ghaziabad Police of Uttar Pradesh were searching for Khan, who hails from Mumbra township in Thane district of Maharashtra, the official said, as per the PTI.

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The suspect was being taken to Mumbra for questioning, he said while refusing to elaborate.

As per the case details, 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 that the cleric and Baddo had unlawfully converted his son, who recently passed the class 12 board exam, to Islam, the police had said, according to the PTI.

The complainant alleged that his son came in contact with Baddo through an online gaming app and frequently spoke to him, following which he got inclined towards adopting Islam, the police said, reported the PTI.

The boy told his father that he had converted to Islam after being convinced by Baddo, according to police.

Meanwhile, the Apex child rights body NCPCR has sought an inquiry by the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry against online gaming platform Fortnite and instant messaging social platform "Discord" for their alleged involvement in the religious conversion of a minor boy, according to the PTI.

In a letter to the Meity secretary, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said it has come across a news report stating "a caretaker of a mosque in Ghaziabad and a man from Mumbai were involved in religious conversion of a minor boy through an online gaming platform Fortnite", the PTI reported on Friday.

"The minor boy was lured into conversation through the said gaming platform, Fortnite and then brainwashed into religious conversion over another social platform, Discord," the NCPCR alleged, according to the PTI.

The commission requested for an inquiry to be initiated against Fortnite and Discord, and an action-taken report in the matter.

(with PTI inputs)