According to police, a man has been detained here after reportedly using threats of financial reward to persuade members of the scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribes. Mahinder Kumar, a citizen of Peernagar Sudana hamlet in the hapur district, has been named as the culprit. The action was taken following the filing of a FIR in response to a report that certain males were forcing and paying poor residents of the Modinagar neighbourhood to become Christians.

On July 23, the FIR was filed at the Modinagar police station against Kumar and a few other individuals. According to ACP Modinagar Gyan Praksh, Kumar and his wife were in charge of Bethlehem Gospel, a trust that received funding from overseas and was used to entice the underprivileged to become Christians. "The FIR against Kumar was registered under relevant sections of the IPC and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act," the official continued.

An act of social service or aiding the defenceless has nothing to do with a certain faith or group of people. Regardless of their belief, anybody who want to give selflessly to society can do so. But it has been seen over the past several years that social service is also becoming into a strategy for persuasion. Particularly pioneers in this practise are the Christian missionaries.


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