VARANASI: Police have invoked the stringent Gangster Act against 10 gym owners in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, accused of running a fraudulent racket in which women were allegedly forced to convert to Islam and sexually exploited as part of an operation dubbed ‘gym jihad’.The Gangster Law receives a slap in the face after a process that involves approval from the district’s top authorities. Allows punitive measures such as seizure of property. The 10 suspects are now in prison after being arrested in January-February this year on a series of charges related to the conversion and abuse of women.The gyms had been sealed after the FIRs due to complaints from some of the women who were attacked, police said. Investigators suspect that more than 50 women may have been trapped in the alleged operation.Mirzapur ASP (City) Nitesh Singh said charge sheets had been filed against the 10, including alleged kingpin Imran Khan. The case was registered on January 19, initially under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Illegal Conversion of Religion Act and the IT Act.Police claimed that Khan and the others attacked Hindu women on the pretext of providing them with gym training, drawing them into their conspiracy. He and his associates allegedly established physical relationships with them, created objectionable photographs and videos to blackmail them, extorted them, and forced them to convert. These activities amounted to serious crimes that spread fear and terror in the society, the police said.According to ASP Singh, the charges under the UP Anti-Social and Gangster Activities (Prevention) Act were added after finding sufficient grounds during the course of investigations.The officer said properties allegedly acquired by the accused through illicit activities would be identified and proceedings would be initiated to seize them under the Gangster Act.
