New Delhi, Jun 24 (IANS): The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has denounced the arrest of Maulana Umar Gautam and Mufti Qazi Jahangir Alam Qasmi who were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad on several charges including forcible conversions, and they are being investigated.

JIH Vice President Mohammad Salim Engineer said, "the manner in which they were arrested and are being implicated in serious charges and the way a section of the media is overreacting, it clearly shows that attempts are being made to exploit public sentiments by creating a charged atmosphere of fear, intimidation and hatred for political mileage. Such attempts to divert attention from the real public issues to create an emotional atmosphere in view of the UP Assembly election eight months later, are very regrettable."

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered action under the Gangster Act and National Security Act (NSA) against those involved in the conversion of deaf and dumb and physically challenged children and youth.

Two persons had been arrested from Delhi on Monday for allegedly forcibly converting over 1,000 people to Islam, police said.

The Chief Minister has ordered stringent action and asked the agencies to further probe the case and dig deeper to arrest all those involved.

The state government has also ordered seizure of properties of the accused.

The two men in Delhi's Jamia Nagar were allegedly running an outfit involved in converting deaf and dumb students and poor people to Islam in Uttar Pradesh.