Noose Tightens Around Changur Baba As ED Carries Out Searches In Mumbai, UP’s Balrampur

Last Updated:July 17, 2025, 11:17 IST

The locations are connected to Shehzad Sheikh, a member of Changur Baba’s illegal religious conversion nexus, who sold a piece of land to the latter

A small-time seller of gemstones and rings, Changur’s fortunes changed around 2020 when he styled himself as a ‘pir’ and spiritual guide. (News18 Hindi)

Days after registering a case against Changur Baba, alias Jamaluddin, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out simultaneous raids across 14 locations connected to him—two in India’s financial capital Mumbai at Mahim and Bandra and 12 in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur.

The locations are connected to Shehzad Sheikh, a member of Changur Baba’s illegal religious conversion nexus. ED sources told CNN-News18 that Sheikh sold a piece of land to Changur Baba and received Rs 2 crore for it. The agency suspects that these funds are proceeds of crime and is hence questioning Sheikh at his Bandra residence.

Apart from this, the agency also found five foreign accounts linked to Changur Baba in the UAE. The identification of the bank accounts is being seen as a milestone in ED’s quest to identify the money trail.

The investigation carried out by UP ATS has revealed that Changur had at least 40 local bank accounts through which at least a hundred crore was moved around. According to sources, the money was transferred into these accounts from the Middle East as well as through the Hawala route.

During interrogation with the UP Police, Changur Baba has accepted that he was involved in religious conversion and claims to have recruited at least 3,000 people spread across 578 districts of the country to identify and convert global targets.

The ED is now trying to figure out how many times and how much money was actually transferred through these foreign bank accounts till date.

WHO IS CHANGUR BABA?

A small-time seller of gemstones and rings, Changur’s fortunes changed around 2020 when he styled himself as a ‘pir’ and spiritual guide with a sudden rise in wealth and status. After gaining people’s trust, he made them believe that he has miraculous healing power. Convinced by his ‘miracles’, his ‘followers’ were slowly brainwashed and forced to convert to Islam.

UP ATS had also revealed that Changur, the kingpin of the racket, targeted women from non-Muslim communities and even maintained a “rate list" for their conversions.

A report in Aaj Tak quoted sources in ATS as saying that Changur had plans to build a ‘Dawa Kendra’ on the India-Nepal border and funding for the venture had started coming in from abroad.

Location :

Balrampur, India, India

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