FAlternatively, the old image of Jamaluddin, now known as Chhangur Baba, is still vivid among the elderly residents of Rehra Maafi, a village on the outskirts of Utraula village in Balrampur district. A slim, swarthy man from the Pankhiya Muslim community. With six fingers on his right hand (hence the nickname Chhangur), he travels from village to village selling trinkets and rings. Once elected as pradhan, he is remembered for bridging the Yadav-Muslim gap. But on July 5, when the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested the 70-year-old along with his associate Neetu Nasreen from Lucknow following a manhunt, they described him as the head of a sophisticated and organized illegal conversion racket with wide reach across the state. In fact, Changur has long replaced his bicycle with a Toyota Fortuner, travels with armed guards and owns several properties. According to ATS, his operations reportedly encompassed fake identities, foreign financing, document forgery and multiple aliases. Numerous serious charges have been leveled against him and his associates, including conspiracy to wage war against the state, inciting religious enmity and violating provisions of the UP Prohibition of Illegal Conversions Act, 2021. Police said the earlier (April 8) arrests included Mumbai native Naveen Rohra (Neetu’s husband) and Chhangur’s son, known as Jamaluddin after converting to Islam. Mehboob.