UP man claims Chhangur Baba threatened to kill daughters to force him into converting to Islam

A man here has alleged that Chhangur Baba "brainwashed" him and then threatened to kill his two daughters in an attempt to force him into converting to Islam, police have said.

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Jamaluddin alias Chhangur Baba, a resident of Balrampur, is accused of targeting people from several communities and even maintaining a rate list for conversions, officials said. He was arrested earlier this month by a team of the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police.

Jyotirgmay Rai (35) claimed that Chhangur Baba brainwashed him and threatened to murder his two daughters in an attempt to compel him to convert to Islam.

His complaint to the Additional Director General of Police, Piyush Mordia, on Tuesday has prompted a probe. Bhadohi Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Mangalik said an investigation was under way.

Rai has claimed that he married a woman he knew as Ishita through an Arya Samaj ceremony, only to later discover that her name was Afreen and she was a Muslim.

Tensions escalated when Afreen's family reportedly began pressing Rai to convert to Islam after their second daughter was born in March 2024.

"Rai claims that Afreen left with their daughters for Lucknow in November 2024. When he followed them, he was allegedly threatened and subjected to brainwash by Chhangur Baba. He has also claimed that he was asked to convert to Islam while his daughters were held at knifepoint," said the SP.

After working in Lucknow from December 2024 to April 2025, Rai returned to Bhadohi without converting and filed a petition before the high court seeking his children's custody.

"A police team has been deployed to investigate the matter," said the superintendent of police.