Recently, a major religious conversion racket was busted in Nadiad, Gujarat. The key accused, identified as Steven McWan, has been arrested and is currently in judicial custody. The Kheda Police are conducting a detailed investigation into what appears to be a large-scale religious conversion scam.
According to initial findings, McWan ran a trust named “Restoration Revival”, through which he allegedly brought people from other states, brainwashed them, and converted them to Christianity illegally without any formal paperwork. Nadiad served as the main center of operations, though police suspect the racket had links to other states as well.
Further investigation revealed that McWan received foreign funding to carry out these conversion activities. Authorities are currently probing suspicious financial transactions worth ₹1.33 crore, believed to have been used to run the racket. He was earlier placed under five days of police remand for interrogation, after which the court sent him to judicial custody.
Active on Social Media
Steven McWan was reportedly very active on social media. He had created a Facebook page under his trust’s name and also ran a YouTube channel, both of which were launched around 2020 and remained active until a few months ago.
These platforms were filled with videos claiming to “heal people through divine miracles.” Many of them showed McWan allegedly curing illnesses or solving people’s problems through prayers in the name of Jesus. In some videos, he even claimed to bring dead people back to life, using these videos to lure and brainwash vulnerable individuals into conversion.
Miraculous “healings” and fake testimonials
His YouTube channel contains several videos claiming to cure diseases like cancer and COVID-19 or “revive” people from near-death conditions, all supposedly through the power of Jesus. Each video follows a similar script: a person thanks Jesus after being “healed,” while McWan or one of his associates is seen beside them.
A Facebook post from August 24, 2018, for instance, claimed that a Hindu girl who was born deaf and mute was miraculously healed after prayers in the name of Jesus. The post stated that her parents couldn’t afford an expensive surgery, but after joining McWan’s “Restoration Movement,” the girl allegedly started speaking and hearing without any medical procedure.
Brainwashing through seminars
McWan also conducted seminars where he preached using Christian literature. He distributed books to attendees, read passages aloud, and explained them while urging people to “believe in Jesus” for the cleansing of their souls. He often told his audience that faith in God would remove all life’s problems, and that Satan would not harm those who believed in Jesus.
In several videos, children and youth can also be seen participating in his sessions. Some of his seminars even featured guest pastors from abroad, who repeated the same core message that accepting Jesus would automatically solve all problems in life.
Anti-idolatry propaganda
In one of his speeches, McWan openly criticized idol worship, describing it as unnecessary and misguided. He mocked the practice of Murti Puja (idol worship), referring to idols as “stones,” and argued that even valuing one’s family or loved ones more than God was wrong, asserting that Jesus must always come first.
Given that idol worship is central to Hindu traditions, these remarks were clearly aimed at indoctrinating Hindu attendees during his seminars. The video containing such comments can reportedly be heard after the 27:00-minute mark.
Expansion to other cities
Beyond Nadiad, McWan is believed to have expanded his activities to Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and other cities. He would invite poor and sick individuals to gatherings, where he would deliver sermons claiming to invoke the “presence of the Holy Spirit” and then lay hands on attendees while praying for them.
His social media pages also show pictures of food distribution drives and charitable activities, purportedly to help the needy. However, investigators believe these acts were a cover to lure and convert economically vulnerable people, similar to previous cases of conversion through inducement.
Ongoing investigation
Police have seized multiple devices including McWan’s phone and hard drives, which reportedly contain a large amount of incriminating material: videos, photos, and documents. All this evidence is undergoing forensic examination.
Officials suggest that the investigation may soon reveal deeper links, possibly including foreign collaborators and funding networks behind the organized conversion racket.
