Ghaziabad, June 9: In connection with the online gaming conversion case, Ghaziabad police recorded the testimony of accused Shahnawaz Khan’s mother, Mumtaz Khan, on Thursday. The statement was taken down at Thane’s Mumbra police station.
The development occurred after the Uttar Pradesh Police discovered a conversion racket in which youngsters were reportedly targeted via the internet gaming software ‘Fortnite’ and lured to switch their faith. In connection with the case, one individual was arrested.
Shahnawaz, a Thane resident, is on the run, and police have initiated a manhunt to find him. At 12 p.m. on Thursday, his mother Mumtaz was summoned for interrogation. She proceeded to Thane DCP Zone 1 office first, then to Mumbra police station, where her statement was taken.
According to police sources, after the complaint was filed in Ghaziabad, Shahnawaz Khan, his two brothers, and mother drove to Solapur, Maharashtra. Shahnawaz and his brother left Solapur for another location.
Mumtaz told the cops that one of the brothers had gone to Delhi and that the other brother’s phone had been turned off. A Ghaziabad police squad went to Solapur but found nothing.
Police are presently questioning Mumtaz and looking for the suspect. The police have identified four juveniles who converted using the online gaming software, two from Ghaziabad and one each from Faridabad and Chandigarh.
According to Nipun Agarwal, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Ghaziabad (city), “Shahnawaz Khan, whose digital name was ‘Baddo,’ liked to locate youngsters playing ‘Fortnite’.
When teenagers used to lose the game, they were told to read Quran verses if they wanted to win. And if they won, their interest in and belief in the Quran would grow. They would then convert to Islam,” the DCP predicted.
“The accused used to communicate with the targeted youngsters using the online gaming app’s Discord talking platform, where they were reportedly given videos of hardline preachers such as Zakir Naik and Tariq Jameel,” he claimed.
