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Indian authorities stop Christian prayer meeting following accusations of conversions

A man climbs down after partially chipping out the cross from the entrance of his house, after taking part in a religion conversion ceremony from Christianity to Hinduism, at Hasayan town in Uttar Pradesh August 29, 2014. | Reuters/Adnan Abidi

Indian authorities have stopped a Christian prayer meeting after a right-wing Hindu group alleged that the event was being used for religious conversions.

The prayer meeting, which took place Friday at a church in Uttar Pradesh, was being attended by some 150 people, including 11 American tourists, before it was stopped by the police.

The Hindu Yuva Vahini, which was established in 2002 by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, filed a complaint against Pastor Yohannan Adam, accusing him of converting Hindus to Christianity.

"No prior permission was taken before the meeting. We stopped the meet after a complaint was registered. A probe is underway and appropriate action will be taken if the charges are correct," said police officer Anand Kumar Gupta, according to Hindustan Times.

The pastor said that the conversion allegations were "baseless" and that the people at the event were there voluntarily.

The authorities let the U.S. tourists go after checking their visas and relevant documents, but one of the Hindu group's leaders was not happy that the Americans were cleared.

"The presence of US nationals indicates that innocent and illiterate Hindus were being converted by the missionaries, who lured them with money to change their religion," said Krishna Nandan, whose supporters surrounded the church in the afternoon.

The group only dispersed after the police promised to conduct a probe and take adequate action.

Another prayer meeting was canceled on Saturday in Bengaluru after protests from several Hindu groups. Nearly 1,000 people were expected to attend the meeting that was scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday, but it was canceled just about 12 hours before the event.

The first complaint was filed on Friday by Girish Bhardwaj, who wrote to the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office, saying two American evangelists are in India for "religious conversions."

"The two foreigners had applied for Indian visa only to attend religious campaigns. Clearly, they are misleading the Indian Consulate," Bhardwaj alleged.

Later that day, Keshav Nayak, the convenor of the Hindu group known as Bajrang Dal, also filed a complaint alleging that the event was aimed at converting innocent Hindus and that money would be offered to the converts.

Nayak said that the organizers of the prayer meeting should be arrested, and suitable action must be taken.

A prayer coordinator said that the church have always held retreats and services, adding that the event was only for parishioners.

"We don't know why questions are being raised about permission. We are not converting anyone, only Christians are attending this," the coordinator said.