Hindutva group Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on Sunday asked Hindu men to in Karnataka to trap Muslim girls in order to counter “love jihad” and assured them protection, reported the Hindustan Times.

“We clearly know what is happening in Karnataka and I have a solution,” Muthalik said at an event in Bagalkot district. “If we lose one Hindu girl to ‘love jihad’, we must trap and lure 10 Muslim women in retaliation. If this happens, Sri Rama Sene will be behind and give you complete protection and even employment. We must protect our religion from external forces.”

“Love jihad” is a debunked Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslim men romantically lure Hindu women in order to convert them to Islam.

At the event, Muthalik also said it was the duty of Sri Rama Sene to warn Hindu girls of “love jihad”.

“Across the country, we have been losing hundreds of girls as they are exploited by ‘love jihad’,” he claimed. “We must take responsibility to warn the girls about this.”

Muthalik has made controversial remarks on several occasions earlier as well. In May, the Hindutva leader had claimed that there are more than 500 illegal churches in Karnataka and demanded that they be demolished with bulldozers.

Last week, Muthalik had claimed that he faced obstacles from his own members for supporting Hindutva ideologies and protecting them. He had also claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party’s “fake and two-faced Hindutva” will only damage the outfit further.