Over 340 persons have been booked through 108 FIRs lodged under the provisions of the anti-conversion law that came into existence last year.

According to the Uttar Pradesh Police data, 189 people were arrested and charge sheets were filed in 72 cases.

At least 77 victims have given statements before a magistrate that they were forced to convert.

According to the police spokesman, a final report was filed in 11 cases, which included six cases in Bareilly police zone.

In Shahjahanpur district, five persons were booked, including two Christians and two Dalits, under the anti-conversion law.

In one case registered in Moradabad, two men were booked but in the statement before the magistrate the woman had refuted the charges.

The maximum number of FIRs — 28 — were registered in the Bareilly police zone.

The maximum number of charge sheets in 18 cases were filed by the Meerut police zone.

Officials in the DGP headquarters said that all the district police chiefs and police commissioners have been instructed not to harass any individual accused in cases of anti-conversion law and act solely on evidence.

“We have also directed senior police officers to supervise probe in pending cases,” said a senior police official.

Meanwhile, the police said that as many as 31 accused booked under the anti-conversion laws were minors.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed.)