No evidence about 'Love Jihad': Kerala DGP

The Kerala police told the Kerala High Court that no conclusive evidence had been received about existence of 'Love Jihad' movement, where young non-Muslim girls are allegedly trapped into marriage and converted into Islam.

In a statement filed in the court, Director General of Police Jacob Punnose said he could not come to "a definite all conclusive finding" due to divergence in contents of reports from SPs of different districts and subordinate officers on the organised work of the 'Love Jihad' in the state.

The DGP also submitted 18 reports of SPs in a sealed cover to the court, complying with its October 26 directive. The court had expressed dissatisfaction with the DGP's earlier statement, saying some of his answers were 'vague' and statements did not 'reconcile' with each other. It had directed him to produce, by Wednesday, in a sealed cover, the reports based on which he made his statements on the 'Love Jihad'.

The DGP, in a statement on Oct 22, had told the court there were reasons to suspect 'concentrated attempts' to persuade non-Muslim girls to convert to Islam after they fall in love with Muslim boys, but no organisation called 'Love Jihad' had been identified so far in the state. Punnose in his statement today said he had received some information from some units based on "source inputs" which suggested 'clandestine design' of certain groups aimed at religious conversion through "deceitful means".

He said the contents of three reports lacked supportive evidence and were often based on hearsay. No cogent material was available in the three reports to make an unambigious statement on the truth of allegations of forced conversions. The contents of the reports require further enquiries, he stated. The issue of the so called 'Love Jihad' had also been raised in the Karnataka High Court which on October 26 had directed the state and the Kerala police to jointly probe the matter and submit a report by November 13.