Zakir Naik faces NIA heat, premises searched

Probe agency files FIR against the IRF, banned earlier this week.

November 20, 2016 02:21 am | Updated November 17, 2021 06:18 am IST - Mumbai:

Mumbai: National Investigation Agency (NIA) team and Mumbai Police raids the Islamic Research Foundation office headed by Zakir Naik at Dongri in Mumbai on Saturday. PTI  Photo(PTI11_19_2016_000195A)

Mumbai: National Investigation Agency (NIA) team and Mumbai Police raids the Islamic Research Foundation office headed by Zakir Naik at Dongri in Mumbai on Saturday. PTI Photo(PTI11_19_2016_000195A)

After criminal cases were registered by local police stations and a ban imposed by the Central government, the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), run by controversial preacher Zakir Naik, is now under the scanner of the National Investigation Agency.

The Central terror-investigation agency registered an FIR against the IRF on Friday and on Saturday launched a comprehensive investigation into its activities.

According to sources, the NIA registered a case against Dr. Naik as well as other office-bearers of the Foundation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race or language.

Documents, cash seized Hours later, multiple NIA teams were sent to various IRF premises to conduct searches, which continued till late on Saturday.

“Nine NIA teams have conducted search operations on 12 premises connected to the IRF in Mumbai simultaneously and seized incriminating documents, files, electronic storage devices and about Rs. 12 lakh in cash,” an NIA officer said.

Sources said the searches commenced early on Saturday morning at Dr. Naik's residence in Byculla, the IRF’s offices in Dongri and Pydhonie, the premises of the Islamic International School run by the IRF and the residences of several IRF office-bearers.

The police had deployed teams on standby in areas around IRF establishments since Wednesday to prevent any untoward incident after the Central government’s ban on the foundation.

Focus on funding Officials said the focus of the searches was on the content and nature of Dr. Naik’s sermons and IRF literature, as well as on the funding received by the Foundation, particularly from abroad.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.