Ajmer: Bijainagar was just another quaint town in the heart of Rajasthan. But that was about to change on 16 February. Claims and counter-claims are now flying thick and fast as a ‘conversion racket’ row lays bare communal fault lines between local Hindus and Muslims.
The past week has been unlike any in Bijainagar. The Hindutva group Sakal Hindu Samaj issued calls for a bandh in Bijainagar and Ajmer; lawyers tried to thrash the accused on court premises; and gates of a burial ground were locked by the district administration which also served a notice to a mosque, alleging encroachment of land in both cases.
On Saturday, Hindutva groups held an ‘Aakrosh’ rally in Ajmer to demand a CBI probe into the matter. They also urged the Rajasthan government to take a cue from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and implement the ‘Yogi model’ of justice—sparking concerns among Muslim families who now live in constant fear of a bulldozer rolling down their street.
The upheaval can be traced back to three FIRs registered within 30-45 minutes of each other at the Bijainagar police station. In the FIRs, filed between 9.30 pm and 11 pm on 16 February, a group of 13 Muslim boys and men including three minors are accused of blackmailing, sexually assaulting and trying to forcibly convert five minor Hindu girls.
All the girls are students of Class 10 and enrolled in the same school.
Police have arrested 10 adults, and apprehended 3 minors in connection with the FIRs. Among those in custody is a former councillor and two Hindu men who police said are owners of a cafe where the alleged sexual assault took place.
Police officials also confirmed to ThePrint that none of the accused has a criminal record, at least six are related to each other, most are residents of Taro Ka Kheda and Raj Nagar in Bijainagar and made their living doing odd jobs such as painting, welding etc.
On their part, family members of some of the accused ThePrint spoke to denied all charges levelled in the FIRs and instead alleged that they were being targeted because of their religious identity.
The matter came to light less than two weeks after the BJP government in Rajasthan tabled The Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, in the Assembly. Cleared by the state cabinet last November, the draft of the Bill has a provision which allows for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000 for various offences—the stringency prompted by concerns over a supposed increase in cases of ‘love jihad’.
Coined by Hindutva outfits, the term refers to instances of Muslim men marrying Hindu women allegedly with the sole intention to convert them.
Also Read: Under MP’s controversial anti-conversion law, Hindus & Jains among accused too
A ‘pattern’ & a ‘conspiracy’
According to the first FIR, a copy of which is with ThePrint, a resident of Bijainagar told the police that he walked in on their minor daughter talking to one Rukman on the phone on 15 February. The phone, he said, was given to her by Rukman—who has been named as the sole accused in this case.
Further, the father alleged that he saw Rukman calling his daughter repeatedly “15-20 times” and pressured her to meet him right away, allegedly threatening to “make her photos viral” if she refused. The family told the girl to meet him and accompanied her to a burial ground in Taro Ka Kheda area where they, along with Hindu Sangat Samaj, an unregistered umbrella Hindutva outfit, intercepted Rukman.
They then handed him over to the police and filed a complaint.
The FIR also accuses Rukman of forcibly taking the minor to cafes, pressuring her to wear the clothes of his choice, trying to establish physical relations with her and forcing her to meet his friends. In their complaint, the girl’s parents also alleged Rukman had her observe fasts during Ramzan and threatened to kill her family if she did not give in to his demands.
But this, the minor’s family claimed they later found out, was a ‘pattern’.
Within two hours of the first FIR, two other FIRs were lodged—one by a local Dalit man and another by the brother of the first complainant and two other men from the Brahmin community, leveling similar allegations.
At least four other minor girls, all from Hindu families, were allegedly being forced to convert by Muslim boys who were blackmailing them, they said, though police officials said they were yet to recover any evidence to that effect. Masuda DSP Sajjan Singh, who is overlooking the cases, told ThePrint, “They (accused) cleared data from their phones. We didn’t find any such thing. The devices have been sent for forensic analysis.”
DSP Singh confirmed that the minors’ statements were recorded in the presence of a magistrate, while the accused gave their version of events to the police during custodial interrogation. The police, said DSP Singh, also have circumstantial evidence including the location of the phones of the accused, call detail records (CDR) and witnesses.
On what may have been the primary motive behind the alleged crime, DSP Singh said, “they (accused) wanted to convert them (minor girls).”
Of the minor girls whose family members approached the police, at least two are from the Brahmin community and one from the Dalit community.
The father of another minor girl—who filed the third FIR—said the families did not realise the “magnitude” of it at first. “…but then he (one of the accused) revealed they had been receiving funds to convert and sell off Hindu girls. He said the price for Brahmin girls is Rs 20 lakh and for Dalit girls is Rs 10 lakh. Then we filed the first complaint.”
He alleged that Rukman attacked the minor girl (whose father registered the first FIR) when she refused to “take the Chinese mobile handset” from him. “There are blade marks on her hand; she is scared. It was in the winter. These boys would come to pick them up in cars, take them to cafes.”
Asked about allegations that the accused blackmailed the minor girls by threatening to upload their private photos or videos on the internet, he said, “We found some photos in Rukman’s phone and deleted them.”
According to DSP Singh, the accused may have “noticed the girls when they would walk to school”. He added that they also “connected on Instagram” and that the “girls knew that the boys and the men were Muslim”.
“The probe revealed that two of the girls were sexually assaulted in a cafe by two accused. One of them was assaulted twice by two Muslim men,” DSP Singh said, adding that while all three FIRs have been lodged under sections of POCSO and the BNS, charges against each of the accused will be framed once the chargesheet is filed. “The other accused were aware of what was happening, they would help these boys in delivering phones etc. to the girls. They are all part of this conspiracy. Further investigation is on.”
A similar claim was made by the family of the minor Dalit girl from in the second FIR, alleging that the accused operated like a “gang”.
‘Wrong just because he is a Muslim’
Naziya, whose brother Sohail is among the accused, denied the allegations levelled against him and said he was merely friends with the minor Dalit girl. “I knew Sohail was talking to the Hindu girl. They had been talking to each other since September and he had shown me a photo of them together as well. She is the only girl he ever spoke to. It is wrong just because he is a Muslim. Everyone is calling him a rapist. How will we live like this?”
On allegations that Sohail tried to convert the minor, Naziya retorted: “He doesn’t even know what kalimas to say while performing namaz.”
She also told ThePrint that her family knew the girl’s family well. “I work in the same office as one of her uncles. We don’t understand why they said these things about conversion.” Naziya went on to add that the girl’s family had instructed her in early February not to talk to Sohail anymore.
“But we don’t know for sure if they kept talking after that or not.”
The claim that the minor girl’s family knew about her friendship with Sohail, however, was denied by her uncle who is also her guardian.
Waheed Rahman, whose son Javed is among the accused, said Javed had returned from Jaipur about 7-10 days before the FIRs were filed. “These girls and some of the boys were friends and now all of our sons have been targeted,” he told ThePrint.
Javed and Sohail and two other accused—Rehan and Ashiq—are cousins.
Pointing towards a demolished platform just outside the house of his brother Chand Mohammed, Rehan’s uncle Shafe Mohammed told ThePrint, “Today they measured our house too. My son has been detained for questioning as well. Are they going to take away all the Muslim boys? Five boys talking to the girls, after the punishment that we have been given, no Muslim man will dare to hold his head high ever here again.”
Rehan’s sister alleged that false accusations of rape and blackmail were made “because of the involvement of Hindu Right-wing groups”.
Sohail’s mother Afsana, meanwhile, echoed her daughter’s version of events. “I told him if he wants to get married, I will find him a Muslim girl. We scolded him but he told us they are just friends. It’s like being a Muslim is a punishment now. When we saw news reports of ‘love jihad’ cases in UP, we never imagined that we would one day be embroiled in one.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Tensions simmer in Bastar between Christians & Right-wing outfits as conversion takes centre stage
This case resembles the infamous Alwar grooming gangs case of the 90s. Things seem to have gotten out of hand in Rajasthan.
One wonders if the accused in the Alwar case, including members of the famous Chishti family, are involved in the Bijainagar case too.
This is a dastardly manifestation of the communalism and hatred for the “non-believers” inherent in Islam. Shameful to say the least!
Some dirty news channels / media houses are more communal than so called hindu outfits. They only present one side of the story, mostly anti Hindu. Rest assured, some day all such evils shall be thrown out of the country. Innumerable selfless Heros of Sanatan are relentlessly working 24×7 to achieve this goal.
The modus operandi is strikingly similar to the Alwar rape and grooming case of the early 90s.
I would not be surprised if the Chishtis of Alwar are found to be involved in this case too.
It’s sad and disgusting to see that Muslims have taken their hatred for the “kafir” Hindu to such a low where even such shameful and heinous acts are allowed by the community elders.