Twitter
Advertisement

NIA gives Zakir Naik two more worries: sister Nailah and IS link

The arrested individual, identified as Abu Anas, had claimed that he had received a scholarship from Naik's organisation last year.

Latest News
article-main
Zakir Naik
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

In what could only mean more trouble for Zakir Naik, the National Investigation agency (NIA) has claimed to have found a link between the Islamic televangelist and a person held for intending to join the Islamic State (IS) in 2015. The arrested individual, identified as Abu Anas, had claimed that he had received a scholarship from Naik's organisation last year.

This, however, is not the only new development in the NIA-led probe against Naik and Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), an organisation headed by the Islamic preacher and now banned by the government. According to NIA, five private companies, in which Naik's sister Nailah Naushad Noorani is designated as director and additional director, too have come under the scanner after the agency found "connections" between the companies and IRF.

"The investigation has revealed that the proscribed IRF has close connections with Harmony Media, Longlast Constructions, Right Property Solutions, Majestic Perfumes and Alpha Lubricants. Documents pertaining to inflow and outflow of foreign and domestic funding, which have been recovered during search operations, are being scrutinised," NIA spokesperson Alok Mittal said on Tuesday.

According to company records, Nailah is designated as additional director Longlast Constructions and Right Property Solutions with the appointment date set to March 12, 2013. She was appointed as director in Harmony Media the very next day. Furthermore, Nailah was appointed as director in Majestic Perfumes and Alpha Lubricants on May 22, 2015.

While the private companies allegedly involved in suspected transactions with IRF may soon fall under the ambit of NIA probe, the revelation about Abu Anas, a software engineer and resident of Tonk, Rajasthan is no good news for the televangelist. Anas, 25, was arrested by the NIA in January 2016 for allegedly planning to go to Syria to fight along with IS.

"The investigation has also revealed that Abu Anas had received Rs 80,000 from the proscribed IRF as scholarship in October 2015. Anas had planned to go to Syria to fight along with IS in the same period. He was arrested by the NIA in January 2016," Mittal added.

Agency sources told DNA that Anas had also taken a loan of Rs 2 lakh from a private bank with an intention to fly to Syria and this was after he was allegedly successful in sending two Indian recruits to Syria in early 2015.

The two Hyderabad-based youth were identified as Arshad Ayub and Mohammed Kadeer.

The agency on Tuesday said that it conducted search in one more premise of Naik, taking the number of raids conducted since last week to 20. "These premises are connected to the proscribed IRF and/or its trustees. During the search operations, video tapes and DVDs of Naik's public speeches, documents related to property and investment, financial transactions, foreign and domestic funding of the proscribed IRF as well as its associated companies, and electronic storage devices have been recovered," said Mittal.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement