The Mahoba police arrested a man under the state’s anti-conversion law for allegedly luring people for conversion by offering monetary help, reports Indian Express.

The arrested person has been identified as Ashish John, a resident of Alipura in the Panwadi area, who had tried to convert several people by luring them financially. Notably, Ashish had converted to Christianity about 20 years ago.

He was arrested on Saturday based on a complaint from his neighbour Sachin Dwivedi. In his complaint, Dwivedi alleged that a month ago John gave him a drink after he told him about a persistent headache.

Recently, the accused reportedly asked the complainant again about his pain. When Dwivedi said the drink did not alleviate the pain, John asked him to adopt Christianity to make this problem go away. He was given several books and told that he would receive a sum of Rs 12,000 to start a business, as a reward for converting to Christianity.

The complainant further alleges that the accused Ashish John forced to accompany him to the local church. On refusing, John cursed that the headache would continue.

The office-bearers of several Hindu outfits had complained about Ashish's activities and had demanded action against him. The accused was arrested on Sunday and booked under sections 3 and 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020.