Meerut (UP), Dec 9 (PTI) Police on Monday arrested five persons from Partapur, a town near Meerut, for allegedly trying to convert people to Christianity, officials said.

The accused allegedly lured people by offering them money to convert to Christianity in the Shankar Nagar area, police said.

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The accused -- Vinit (35), Jauni (37), Geeta (50), Payal (32) and Sangeeta (37) -- have been booked under Section 3/5 (1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, Additional Superintendent of Police (City), Ayush Vikram Singh, said.

The accused lured Hindus with money, claiming to cure all their diseases if they accepted Christianity, thus putting psychological pressure on them, the ASP said.

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Alleging that the accused were converting innocent people of the area by offering money, Sachin Sirohi, a local right wing leader, said this practice needed to be stopped.

Stating that no one can prevent the followers of Sanatan Dharma from following their religion, Sirohi claimed similar incidents were reported from Meerut earlier as well.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)