Workers of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, founded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, barged into a house in Meerut, found a couple in a “compromising” position and handed them over to the police, ANI reported on Wednesday. The man, a Muslim, was accused of trying to forcefully convert the Hindu woman in an act of “love jihad”, Hindustan Times reported.

However, Superintendent of Police (City) Alok Priyadarshan told the English daily that the couple were not beaten up and were both Muslims. Police added that Wasim, a resident of Muzaffarnagar who worked in a hotel in Meerut, had called his girlfriend to his rented house in the Shastri Nagar locality. Some locals informed Hindu Yuva Vahini leaders and they, in turn, forced their way into Wasim’s quarters. “People use these LIG quarters for immoral activities,” Nagendra Pratap Singh, who led the Hindu Yuva Vahini group, claimed.

The ascension of Adityanath, a priest who uses the honorific “Yogi”, to the post of chief minister of Uttar Pradesh has set off several such instances led by vigilantes. Two days after he took charge, “anti-Romeo” squads made their presence felt in Meerut. According to a report in The Times of India, the squads “blurred the line between crime patrol and moral policing”, choosing people at random to inform their parents of their so-called romantic activities.

Last Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh Police had to stop a prayer meeting at a church in Maharajgang after members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini alleged that forced religious conversions were raking place. They said foreign nationals were forcing local residents to convert to Christianity under the ruse of a prayer meeting, which had more than 150 people, including 11 United States nationals, in attendance.

Play