MP man held captive in UP's Pratapgarh escapes after a decade of ‘slavery’; claims that captors forced him to embrace Islam

PRAYAGRAj: After several failed attempts, a man from the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh who was held captive in UP's Pratapgarh finally escaped, ending a decade of ‘slavery'.Santosh Shukla, 40, claims he was held captive as a house help by a Pratapgarh resident, Badr-ul-Zama, 38, who also got him converted to Islam and renamed him Sher Khan. Zama was arrested on Monday but his associates are on the run. On Sunday, Shukla managed to flee and reach a police outpost where he told his ordeal to cops.Shukla, originally from MP's Sagar district, had met Badr-ul-Zama, Kalloo, Naeem, Nizam and their six associates at a dhaba in Chhattisgarh in 2014. The group promised him a better life if he relocated to Pratapgarh. They even promised to arrange a matrimonial alliance for him.Shukla waited for two more years before he accepted the offer and reached Pratapgarh in 2016. But his dream destination turned into a nightmare as Badr-ul-Zama took him captive and made him do the household work — for the next 10 years!Shukla claims Badr-ul-Zama and his associates took him to Dawood Nagar mosque and forced him to embrace Islam. The accused also got him a new Aadhaar issued in the name of Sher Khan using forged documents. Shukla told police that he was forced to eat meat and his fake Aadhaar was misused by the accused for their work.The man made 3-4 attempts to escape but in vain. Finally, on Sunday, he gave a slip to Badr-ul-Zama and reached the police outpost at Derwa in Pratapgarh. "Whenever I tried to escape, they caught me, thrashed me and threatened to kill me," he told police in his complaint.Pratapgarh SP Deepak Bhukar said based on Shukla's complaint, an FIR was registered with Jethwara police under various sections of BNS, and section 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, on Monday."Badr-ul-Zama has been arrested and efforts are on to nab others. Police are also probing the victim's claims and making efforts to reach out to his family," the SP said.