Summary:
Kanpur: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up in September to probe alleged cases of ‘love jihad’ has ruled out any conspiracy angle in the 14 such cases it investigated and also found no evidence that the Muslim youths involved got any funding from abroad.
The SIT, which submitted its report on Monday, also dismissed charges that the youths had the backing of any organisation.
The SIT’s findings come two days after the Uttar Pradesh government announced that it would bring an ordinance to check unlawful conversions in the state, primarily aimed at alleged cases of ‘love jihad’.
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Kanpur: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up in September to probe alleged cases of ‘love jihad’ has ruled out any conspiracy angle in the 14 such cases it investigated and also found no evidence that the Muslim youths involved got any funding from abroad.
The SIT, which submitted its report on Monday, also dismissed charges that the youths had the backing of any organisation.
The SIT’s findings come two days after the Uttar Pradesh government announced that it would bring an ordinance to check unlawful conversions in the state, primarily aimed at alleged cases of ‘love jihad’.
The SIT was formed by Inspector General (Kanpur Range) Mohit Agarwal after members of right-wing Hindu organisations, including the VHP, met him and alleged a conspiracy in which Muslim youths were luring Hindu girls into marriage in a bid to convert them.
They also claimed that the youths, who are being funded from abroad, had hid their identities from the girls.
The SIT, headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Vikas Pandey, submitted its report to Agarwal on Monday after probing 14 cases lodged in police stations across Kanpur district over the last two years involving Hindu girls and Muslim men.
Confirming that the SIT submitted its report to him on Monday, Agarwal told The Indian Express that of the 14 cases, the SIT found that police had taken action against the accused in 11 cases under Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc) and other charges.
In eight cases, it was established that the victims (the girls) were minors.