FOr among the old residents of Rehra Mafi village on the outskirts of Utraula town in Balrampur district, the old images of Jamaluddin – now known as Chhangur Baba – are still vivid. A thin, dark man from the Pankhiya Muslim community, with six fingers on his right hand (hence his nickname Chhangur), cycles between villages, selling goods and rings. Once elected Pradhan, he is remembered for bridging the Yadav-Muslim divide. However, on July 5, after a search operation, when the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested the 70-year-old man along with an associate, Neetu alias Nasreen, in Lucknow, they described him as the head of a wide and organized illegal conversion racket with wide reach across the state. In fact, Chhangur had long ago traded his bicycle for a Toyota Fortuner, lived with armed guards and owned several properties. According to the ATS, his operations allegedly included fake identities, foreign funding, document forgery and multiple aliases. Several serious charges have been leveled against him and his associates – including conspiracy to wage war against the state, promoting religious enmity, cheating and violating sections of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Police said earlier arrests (on April 8) included Mumbai native Naveen Rohra (Neetu’s husband), known as Jamaluddin after converting to Islam, and Chhangur’s son Mehboob.