The Chhangur Baba’s Conversion Racket
(Chapter 7)
Jamaluddin, alias Jalaluddin, alias Chhangur Baba or Changur Peer Baba, is a 70-year-old self-styled godman from Rehra Mafi village in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh. He reportedly rose from selling rings and amulets on a bicycle to building a vast criminal syndicate. He operated primarily from Chand Auliya Dargah in Balrampur and Utraula, running the conversion racket for an estimated 10 to 15 years. This was his way of Modern Jihad.
The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested him on July 5, 2025, from a hotel in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar area. His close associate Neetu alias Nasreen, described variously as his wife or key accomplice, was also arrested alongside him.
Funding and Financial Structure
Chhangur’s modern jihad or the conversion racket received between ₹100 crore and ₹106 crore in foreign funds, mostly from Middle Eastern and Gulf countries, routed via Nepal and hawala channels. Around 40 bank accounts were used. Gang members made nearly 40 foreign trips. The Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case under PMLA and raided 14 locations, 12 in Balrampur and Utraula and 2 in Mumbai, to trace assets and benami properties. Some investigative reports alleged Pakistan-linked funding as well.
Take note that the Nepal and hawala routing of Gulf funds directly mirrors the Al-Falah University foreign funding in Chapter 3.
The Targets for Conversion
This conversion syndicate focused on poor laborers, economically weaker sections, Scheduled Castes, widowed women, and especially young and minor Hindu girls. Women under 30 were considered prime targets. Some victims from Sikh and Christian communities were also reported. There was an elaborate deception plan for conversion of these targets.
The Modus Operandi
Chhangur Baba presented himself as a miracle healer and pir with supernatural powers, conducting exorcism sessions and religious discourses. He used books like Shijra-e-Tayyaba at gatherings and held large public events at the dargah for propaganda and mass conversions, which is the modern jihad. Aides, including women like Neetu and Nasreen, approached poor Hindu families with offers of financial aid and claimed miracles.
The network used internal code words for coordination. “Project” referred to a targeted woman. “Kajal lagana” or “kajal karna” meant the brainwashing phase. “Mitti palatna,” literally meaning “turning the soil,” meant completing a full religious conversion. “Darshan” or “Deedar” referred to the final meeting with Chhangur Baba himself.
Honey-trapping was central to the operation. Male agents posed as Hindus on social media platforms like Instagram, building relationships through false promises of marriage, jobs, scholarships, or foreign travel. Blackmail followed once emotional or intimate ties were established. Threats, intimidation, and administrative pressure were also used. Converted women were sometimes showcased as success stories to lure new victims.
Rate Card for Successful Conversion
Recruiters in this modern jihad were paid on a caste-based rate system. Converting a Brahmin, Kshatriya, or Sikh girl earned ₹15 to ₹16 lakh. Converting an OBC girl earned ₹10 to ₹12 lakh. Converting girls from other communities earned ₹8 to ₹10 lakh. This payment package motivated a large network of predators across multiple states. No wonder the news made headlines across all channels.
Network Scale
A dedicated love jihad wing was run by an aide named Rashid. Other key aides included Sabroz and Shahabuddin. Idhu Islam, who handled logistics and funds, was arrested in Nagpur in January 2026. Investigators also found links to Dehradun, Agra, Noida, and Uttarakhand. The network reportedly comprised 1,000 to 3,000 trained facilitators or followers.
Chhangur Baba allegedly presented himself as a functionary of an RSS-affiliated outfit called Bharat Pratikarth Seva Sangh and used PM Modi’s photo on letterheads to gain influence, which investigators treated as deliberate deception. Note that it is not merely fraud or deception. It is deliberate infiltration of Hindu nationalist imagery to neutralise the instinctive resistance of target communities. That is sophisticated operational thinking, not opportunistic criminality.
Some interrogations and chargesheets referenced alleged long-term goals including demographic shifts, establishing sleeper cells, setting up a terrorist training facility with foreign funds, and a stated objective of “Islamic India by 2047.” These claims remain part of ongoing investigation. (See note in references below.)
Identified Victims
The initial FIRs explicitly identified at least 40 Hindu girls and women, several of them minors. Broader investigator estimates ranged from hundreds to over 1,000 total conversions. Some police and intelligence inputs suggested over 3,000 to 4,000 Hindus were targeted or converted, with 1,500 or more women among them. A recovered diary listed over 100 potential targets. One ground report cited claims of up to 5,000 girls targeted across the wider network. A separate FIR in Kushinagar alleged rape and confinement of a victim over eight years. Many victims remained reluctant to come forward due to fear, family pressure, or threats. Some who attempted to revert reportedly faced threats afterward. In any case it was the most sophisticated industrial scale operation of Modern Jihad.
Legal Action and Reactions
Chargesheets were filed under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, along with BNS sections covering intimidation, wrongful confinement, and rape.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath described the activities as “anti-social” and “anti-national.” ED raids continued across 14 or more locations, and illegal structures were demolished. The investigation by UP ATS and ED was ongoing as of early 2026, with chargesheets filed and further arrests expected.
While Chhangur may have been running the mass conversion racket on the promises of magic, delivered by hawala money received from Gulf countries, conversion is a cottage industry too.
In Chapter 8 we shall deal the individual wolf predators who are operating in their own ‘right’ to convert women forcefully into islam and they do not accept no for an answer.
References:
- Bhaskar: https://www.bhaskarenglish.in/originals/news/chhangur-baba-from-bicycle-ring-seller-to-106-crore-conversion-racket-controversial-baba-series-136302187.html
- News18: https://www.news18.com/viral/how-chhangur-baba-converted-non-muslims-miraculous-tactics-explained-9433391.html
- Firstpost: https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/chhangur-baba-religious-conversion-racket-up-13904758.html
- India Today: https://www.indiatoday.in/programme/india-first/video/chhangur-babas-conversion-racket-is-that-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-2753408-2025-07-09
- Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) is prohibited by the central government under UAPA for five years in September 2022. It also had an internal document (described as an 8-page booklet, marked “Internal Document: Not for circulation”) titled something like “India 2047: Towards Rule of Islam in India” or “India Vision 2047”. This document was first prominently recovered in a raid by Bihar Police in July 2022 at Phulwari Sharif (Patna), during the busting of a PFI module. It allegedly outlined a long-term strategy to establish Islamic rule/governance in India by 2047.