Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday established a definite link between the Islamic Research Foundation and the nation-wide sweep conducted by law enforcement agencies earlier this year, in which several accused were arrested for alleged links with the Islamic State.
Last week, on Friday the NIA registered an FIR under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the IRF, its founder Dr. Zakir Naik, and several of its office-bearers.
NIA officials on Tuesday said that their investigations had linked the IRF to Abu Anas, a native of Rajasthan, who was arrested in January while he was allegedly preparing to go to Syria and join the IS.
“The investigation has revealed that Anas had received Rs. 80,000 as scholarship from IRF in October 2015. Anas had planned to go to Syria to fight along with the IS in the same period and was arrested in January 2016,” said an NIA officer.
Anas used to work as an information security analyst in Hyderabad and had quit his job a month before his arrest.
The NIA also searched one more premise connected to the IRF in Mumbai on Tuesday, bringing the total number of searched properties to 20. Apart from video tapes and DVDs of Dr. Naik's public speeches, the NIA has seized a large number of documents related to the investments, financial transactions and the funding of the IRF and all its associated companies.
The NIA has started identifying private firms which had regular dealings with the IRF based on the documents seized during the first set of searches conducted on Saturday last week. Several private firms are now under the NIA's scanner, said officials.
“Our investigation has revealed that IRF has close connections with Harmony Media Private Limited, Longlast Constructions Pvt. Ltd, Right Property Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Majestic Perfumes Pvt. Ltd and Alpha Lubricants Pvt. Ltd. Documents pertaining to the inflow and outflow of foreign and domestic funding, which have been received during the searches, are being scrutinized,” the NIA officer said.
