Ahmedabad, Sep 6 (PTI) The probe into three members of a family being allegedly "brainwashed" to embrace Islam in Gujarat's Banaskantha district was on Tuesday transferred to the state Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), a senior officer said.

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The ATS officer said state Director General of Police (DGP), Ashish Bhatia, transferred the probe from the Banaskantha police to the Gujarat ATS.

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The development came days after thousands of people joined a rally taken out by Hindu outfits on Saturday in Deesa town in the Banaskantha district to protest against the alleged conversion of three members of a family, including two women, which led to one of their kin attempting suicide.

Police have so far arrested two of the five accused under the charges of abetment of suicide and extortion.

On August 27, one Haresh Solanki tried to kill himself by consuming poison at a temple in Palanpur town of Banaskantha.

In his complaint to the police, Solanki, a resident of Deesa, claimed he was depressed since his wife, son, and daughter were brainwashed by one Ejaz Shaikh and his family members into converting to Islam and started living separately from him.

Based on his complaint, police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against five members of the Shaikh family under sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 384 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly forcing Solanki to either convert to Islam or pay Rs 25 lakh if he wants to meet his family members.

"It was alleged that Ejaz had first lured Solanki's college-going daughter and then convinced her mother and brother to convert to Islam too. When Solanki protested, Ejaz took the three members with him and demanded Rs 25 lakh from Solanki," said a police officer.

Police arrested Ejaz and his uncle Sattar Shaikh while other accused are at large, according to the officer.

(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)