3 minutes of readingLucknowUpdated: May 21, 2026 10:48 am IST
Mirzapur Gym Conversion Case: The police have invoked the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters Act and the Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against 10 accused arrested for their alleged involvement in a religious conversion scandal operating from five gyms in Mirzapur.
All ten defendants are currently in prison and the gyms in question have been closed.
Police said the Gangster Act was invoked based on evidence gathered during the investigation. The case was lodged at Kotwali Dehat police station in Mirzapur.
The case first came to light in January after a woman lodged a complaint through the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Women’s Helpline against a gym owner. During the investigation, police said they discovered a group allegedly involved in harassing, blackmailing and pressuring female gym students to convert to their religion.
The defendants, who are gym owners and trainers, were charged with multiple counts, including intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of the peace, extortion, criminal intimidation, assault or use of criminal force, and unlawful religious conversion.
Police later arrested the accused and sent them to jail.
Police said the investigation also found that the defendants allegedly lured Hindu women under the pretext of providing them with training at gyms, involving them in what investigators described as a conspiracy aimed at obtaining financial, material and other illegal gains for themselves and their associates.
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The police further alleged that the accused established physical relations with the women, recorded objectionable photographs and videos and used the material to blackmail, extort and pressure them into religious conversion.
“In this case, alleged gang leader Imran Khan, along with members of his gang, was found to be involved in the crime. Since sufficient grounds for action were established, a case was registered against the 10 accused under the UP Gangsters Act,” said Amit Kumar Mishra, officer of Kotwali Dehat police station.
Among the accused named in the case are Faizal Khan, who won the title ‘Mr Mirzapur’ in 2019, and ‘Mr Purvanchal’ in 2022; Maulvi Khalilur Rahman, 39; KGN gym owner and “main accused” Imran Khan (35); his brother Zaheer (32); Shadab (36); Fareed Ahmed (28); Mohammed Shaikh Ali Alam (31); and a police officer, Irshad Khan (40).
