JHABUA/BHOPAL: Police have arrested nine persons, seven of them from Rajasthan and Gujarat, in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district on charge of indulging in religious conversion, an official said on Friday.
The police registered a case against 10 persons following a complaint filed by a man linked to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
"We received information on Wednesday that some outsiders were allegedly luring tribals to convert to Christianity at Manpur village under the Thandla police station area," the official said.
After that, a police team and some residents of the area reached the village and found that seven persons from Rajasthan and Gujarat and their local contacts were attempting religious conversion by offering inducements at the residence of one Naru Damor, Thandla sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) M S Gavli said.
Later, the police booked a total of 10 persons under relevant sections of Madhya Pradesh's anti-religious conversion law and arrested nine of then, he added.
They were produced in a local court, which sent them to jail on Thursday, the SDOP said.
Talking to reporters in Indore on Wednesday, VHP general secretary Milind Parande alleged that Christian missionaries were involved in illegal conversions in tribal-dominated Jhabua district.
"We demand action against everyone involved in illegal conversions,'' the VHP leader had said.