THE National Investigative Agency (NIA) carried out searches at 10 premises of the banned Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) in Mumbai. The controversial TV evangelist Dr Zakir Naik is the founder of IRF. The searches were conducted after a case was registered against Naik and 10 others by the NIA’s Mumbai branch last night under 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
On Friday, a notice was issued by the Mumbai Police to the IRF which stated that it had been banned under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The IRF was quoted as saying that they were looking at taking legal steps to challenge the ban.
According to sources the searches began Saturday morning. The local police helped NIA in the searches. The IRF came under the scanner of after one of the terrorists involved in the Dhaka cafe attack had allegedly posted on social media that they had been inspired by Naik’s speeches. Also the home ministry found the NGO was allegedly having dubious links with Peace TV, an international Islamic channel, accused of propagating terrorism.
Agencies also found that Zakir Naik as allegedly made many provocative speeches and engaged in terror propaganda. An educational trust run by Naik has already been prevented from receiving foreign funds and agencies are looking into their activities. Naik is currently out of country apparently to evade arrest.