Lucknow: Police arrested a pastor and his son in connection with a religious conversion case linked to a church in Ambedkarnagar district, nearly a year after the FIR was registered. The duo had been absconding since the case came to light, police said.The accused, identified as Nebulal and his son Anjeet Kumar, were arrested on Sunday and remanded to judicial custody by a local court in Ambedkarnagar on Monday.Police said the case pertains to an incident reported on Jul 20, 2025, at Believers Church India in Ratanpur under the Akbarpur area. Police had received a complaint alleging that more than 200 men and women had been invited to the church on the pretext of receiving treatment and were allegedly being induced to embrace Christianity.The complaint was lodged by Arvind Pandey, a functionary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).Police raided the premises and found a large number of men, women and children participating in prayers. During the investigation, police arrested another pastor, Pramod Kumar, who was subsequently sent to jail.Further investigation, including witness statements, allegedly revealed the involvement of Nebulal and his son, who had remained absconding since then.Acting on a tip-off, a joint team under Akbarpur inspector Santosh Kumar Singh, anti-human trafficking unit in charge Awadhesh Srivastava, and sub-inspector Rinku Saroj of Baskhari police station raided the accused’s residence in Patna Mubarakpur village in Allapur tehsil under Ramnagar block of Ambedkarnagar and arrested them on Sunday.City circle officer Nitish Kumar Tiwari said the arrests were made based on evidence collected during the investigation and statements recorded from witnesses. He said both accused were interrogated and later produced before a court, which remanded them to judicial custody. Police are examining the seized documents and other evidence.
