A simmering case over forced religious conversions in western Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district has erupted into a dual-pronged crisis, with two separate cases filed within weeks of each other drawing in Hindu religious leaders, prompting police investigations, and reigniting a public debate over interfaith relationships, property rights, and the application of the state’s anti-conversion law. The first case, registered in early June, involves the son of a prominent pharmaceutical businessman; the second, surfacing in early July, centers on a Rajput family from a rural village alleging threats over 35 bighas of ancestral land. In both instances, families have sought the intervention of Swami Yashveer Maharaj, the head of the Yog Sadhana Ashram in Baghra, who has emerged as a central figure demanding police action and threatening mass protests.

The Ayush Malik Case: Businessman’s Son, Arrests, and a Voluntary Conversion Claim

The controversy ignited on June 6, 2026, when Devaraj Malik, a medical store owner and president of the Shamli Medicine Traders’ Association residing in Dayanand Nagar, lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at the Kotwali police station against ten individuals. The complaint named his 27-year-old son, Ayush Malik, alleging he was systematically ensnared in a love trap by Chandni Qureshi, a 30-year-old physiotherapist and gym trainer from the Kaziwada locality, and subsequently coerced into converting to Islam and adopting the name Mohammad Ali.

The FIR detailed a sprawling conspiracy involving seven members of Qureshi’s family — including her father Islam Qureshi, sisters Rahit, Sumailla, Rabia, Huma, and brother Aas Mohammad alias Aasu — as well as three clerics, identified as Munawwar and two others. Malik alleged that the group, operating over nearly five years, not only pressured Ayush into conversion and a purported Nikah in Delhi using forged documents but also siphoned his earnings and sought to seize the family’s considerable assets, which include two pharmacies and extensive property holdings. The complaint invoked sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and attempt to commit culpable homicide, alongside the stringent Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.

Acting on the complaint, Shamli police arrested Chandni Qureshi and her father Islam Qureshi on June 7, sending them to judicial custody. Superintendent of Police Narendra Pratap Singh announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter, explicitly stating that the conversion appeared driven by a “greed to usurp the property”. “There is a family here that possesses significant assets… They have a son who recently renounced his original faith and converted to Islam,” SP Singh told reporters, adding that Chandni, who worked at the family’s medical store, had “eyes on the family’s property since he was the only son”. A total of 16 individuals were reportedly arrested across various cases in the district that day, signaling a broader crackdown.

The narrative took a sharp turn on June 8 when Ayush Malik appeared before media cameras, declaring unequivocally that he had embraced Islam of his own free will twelve years prior, kept it hidden due to his sisters’ marriages, and faced no coercion, inducement, or brainwashing. “After all my sisters were married, I informed my family that I had embraced Islam,” he stated, adding he had no intention of returning to his previous faith and would fight for his wife’s release. A Shamli court subsequently rejected the bail pleas of Chandni and Islam Qureshi on June 10, with Chief Judicial Magistrate Akshay Yadav observing no grounds for bail existed.

Swami Yashveer Maharaj: From Video Allegations to Mahapanchayat Threats

The involvement of Swami Yashveer Maharaj, the Peethadhishwar of the Yog Sadhana Ashram in Baghra (Muzaffarnagar district), added a potent religious dimension. On June 3, the seer released a video alleging that Ayush Malik had been trapped five years ago, blackmailed, pressured to convert, and married per Muslim rites, accusing the administration of inaction. He issued a ten-day ultimatum for action and announced a Hindu Mahapanchayat in Shamli’s Qureshi locality for June 12. The announcement prompted the police to expedite the FIR registration on the night of June 6.

Second Case Emerges: Bhaukhada Village, 35 Bighas, and Death Threats

Barely a month later, a strikingly similar pattern surfaced in the Jhijhana police station area. A Rajput family from Bhaukhada village approached Swami Yashveer Maharaj at his ashram on July 1, alleging that a Muslim woman from Saharanpur had lured their only son away approximately 1.5 years ago, converted him to Islam, and was now threatening them over the phone to transfer 35 bighas (approximately 22 acres) of ancestral land into her name or face death.

The family claimed they had submitted a written complaint (tehrira) at the Jhijhana police station but no FIR had been registered. Maharaj, releasing a fresh video, warned that if swift action was not taken, he would lead a dharna-pradarshan (sit-in protest) outside the concerned family’s house in Nanauta with Hindu society members, continuing until arrests were made. He demanded a fair investigation, registration of cases against the accused, and action against any cleric proven to have facilitated the conversion.

SP Narendra Pratap Singh confirmed taking the matter seriously, directing the Jhijhana Station House Officer to investigate and promising action based on findings. The parallel structure — a sole male heir, an interfaith relationship spanning over a year, allegations of conversion, and explicit property-related threats — has drawn immediate comparisons to the Malik case, deepening concerns among local residents and community leaders about a potential pattern.

Legal Framework

Both cases are being pursued under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, which criminalizes conversion by “misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or by any fraudulent means” and carries penalties of up to ten years imprisonment and fines. The law also places the burden of proof on the accused to establish the conversion was voluntary.

Investigations Underway, Community Watching

As of early July, the SIT continues its probe into the Malik case, with seven named accused — including the two clerics and Qureshi family members — still at large. In the Bhaukhada case, the Jhijhana police have begun preliminary inquiries, though no arrests or FIR registration had been confirmed by press time. Swami Yashveer Maharaj’s deadline for action in the second case looms, raising the specter of renewed protests. For Shamli, a district historically sensitive to communal tensions, these twin cases represent more than isolated police complaints. They reflect anxieties over demographic change and property succession in landed families. The coming weeks will test whether the legal process can untangle coercion from consent and property disputes to avoid further conflicts.