Gujarat: Man arrested for `illegally converting' people from Dalit, tribal communities

Nadiad, Sep 30 (PTI) A man has been arrested in Gujarat's Nadiad town for allegedly converting people from the Dalit and tribal communities to Christianity by offering inducements, police said on Tuesday.

Steven Macwan, the accused, was held on September 28 after he was allegedly found attempting to convert 59 persons including nine minors at a seminar, the Kheda police said.

He was allegedly involved in these activities for the last three years, and received funds from foreign nationals, police said, adding that a local court remanded him in police custody for seven days.

"Investigation is ongoing to determine whether the funds provided by foreign nationals were linked to any foreign organisation," the police release said.

Macwan traveled to other parts of Gujarat, the country and even neighboring Nepal to carry out his activities, it claimed.

He was booked under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act dealing with conversion through fraud, force, or misrepresentation and `not obtaining prior written permission from the district magistrate for conducting religious conversion', and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The trust the accused was linked to -- Restoration Revival Trust -- is also under the police's scanner.

Macwan's bank account showed transactions of around Rs 1.34 crore in the last three years, and involvement of donors from abroad was also revealed, police said.

Of those present at the seminar in Nadiad, the nine minors were shifted to a child protection home, the police said, claiming that one of the girls, belonging to a Scheduled Caste, was baptised at the program without her father's consent. PTI COR KA KRK