VARANASI: As many as 300 people were allegedly converted to Hinduism in a ‘ghar wapsi’ ritual on Thursday -- that included a of a 'shuddhikaran' , or cleansing, ceremony -- in Ausanpur village in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, 16 kilometers from the town of Varanasi.

People in the village told TOI that many of those allegedly converted, frequented a church that had come up in the area a few years ago. “Their foreign religious books were taken away and they were handed over a Gita and the Hanuman Chalisa', said a handwritten note on the letterhead of the group that supposedly organized the conversion. The group is called the Dharma Jagran Samanvya Samiti.

The note claimed that “315 members of 38 families, who had gone away from the Sanatan Dharma, were brought back to the religion of their forefathers”.

Local RSS leaders accepted that the Samiti is affiliated to the Sangh, but denied any knowledge of the Ausanpur incident. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was in Varanasi a few days ago and is again currently there for a three-day meeting of Sangh affiliates.

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Police on Saturday detained Chandram Bind, one of the organizers of the alleged conversion on Saturday evening. The note said the alleged conversion was done under his supervision. Two others associated with the alleged conversions -- Madhuban Yadav, the pradhan of nearby Chakka village and Shivbachan Gupta -- fled the area. Bind is in custody of the Badagaon police.

Bind claims he held a religious prayer meet as he recently had a son after four daughters. "I had hosted a religious function at the temple to mark the celebration of the birth of my son. But, someone propagated that it was an event for converting those who had converted to Christianity in the past," Bind told TOI at Badagaon police station on Sunday.

When TOI contacted those who were allegedly converted, they claimed that they had never converted (to Christianity) to begin with. Villagers said that after the opening of the church, near Aaloo Mill of Harahua, about eight years ago, many families had started visiting there to take part in weekly prayers and discourses. Because they frequented the church it was considered that they had converted to Christianity.

"Most of them are dalits. They say that they have changed their faith but not the religion, fearing that by doing so they would lose their Scheduled Caste status and the benefits that come with it," said a villager on the condition of anonymity.

A police official said there had been no conversion ritual on Thursday. However, there was 'shudhikaran' ritual at the function organized by Bind, the official said.