On September 11, the Lucknow NIA/ATS special court sentenced 12 individuals, including prominent Islamic clerics Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui and Umar Gautam, to life imprisonment in a high-profile religious conversion case. Special Judge Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi pronounced the sentence.
The case, which attracted considerable media attention, involved Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, head of the Shah Waliullah Trust Muzaffarnagar and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation. Siddiqui was arrested in September 2021, along with three associates, on charges of operating a network facilitating mass conversions to Islam.
The Uttar Pradesh ATS investigation revealed that Siddiqui’s activities were funded by foreign sources, with allegations of over Rupees 57 crores being channelled from trusts based in the UK and Gulf countries.
(developing story)
