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NIA sleuths raid 12 premises of Zakir Naik's IRF; laptops, computers and documents seized

NIA sources said electronic evidence in the form of laptops and mobile phones as well as many documents were seized during searches at 12 locations in Mumbai.

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NIA team in front of Global Education office in Dongri, Mumbai.
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After filing an FIR against controversial televangelist Zakir Naik under Sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday morning searched the offices of Naik's Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and residences of his associates.

NIA sources said electronic evidence in the form of laptops and mobile phones as well as many documents were seized during searches at 12 locations in Mumbai.

After the IRF was banned by the Centre for five years as an unlawful association under UAPA, the Mumbai Police had on Thursday served a copy of the notification at the organisation's Dongri office.

NIA's Mumbai unit on Friday registered an offence against Naik and others under UAPA Sections 10 (Penalty for being a member of an unlawful association), 13 (Punishment for unlawful activities) and 18 (Whoever conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, advises or incites or knowingly facilitates the commission of a terrorist act or any act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act) and Section 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony).

"On November 19, nine NIA teams have conducted search operations at 12 premises connected to the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) in Mumbai simultaneously and seized incriminating documents /files, electronic storage devices and about Rs 12 lakh in cash. The recovered documents relate to various activities including financial transactions and property details of Zakir Naik and the IRF. To assist the search teams, a team of IT experts was flown in from the NIA headquarters in Delhi to Mumbai. The searches are still going on and are likely to continue till late in the night," an NIA spokesperson said. The search operations were photographed.

On Saturday, around 5 am, a team of NIA officers and the local police searched the IRF's head office at Tandel Street in Dongri and a few other places related to the NGO, including IRF Ladies Wing, Islamic Books International, Global Education and Harmony Media Pvt Ltd.

According to sources, the agency had initially searched 10 places and two more places were searched later. The locations searched, which include office complexes of IRF, residential premises of Naik and his close associates and office-bearers of his trust are located in and around Dongri.

Sources said that electronic devices, including mobiles and laptops, have been seized. They added that several storage devices were found in Harmony Media's office. Financial documents and other documents were also being scanned by the NIA. A team is sifting through the documents and will seize only those documents relevant to the investigation, sources said.

"Around 4.30 am, we received a call from an NIA officer and were told toopen the offices. We were told that they wanted to search the premises of IRF. The searches are still on and are likely to continue till late night," an IRF employee, who did not wish to be named, told DNA.

"CDs and computer data from all IRF offices are being scrutinised.Telephonic and email conversations will be checked. Telecom experts have also been roped in," said an official. Around 30-40 Mumbai police team members have been deployed at all IRF premises where the searches are on.

The Maharashtra police's anti-terrorism squad had earlier arrested IRF members for allegedly radicalising youths to join the terrorist organisation Daesh.

The Mumbai police, too, had registered an offence against IRF members for motivating group of youths from Kasargode in Kerala, who left thecountry to join Daesh on a complaint from the father of Ashfaq Majid, one of the youths in the group, at the Nagpada police station. After a few days, this case was transferred to the NIA.

Naik allegedly transferred IRF's foreign funds to Peace TV for making "objectionable" programmes. Most of the programmes, which were made in India, contained alleged hate speeches by Naik, who had reportedly "urged all Muslims to be terrorists" through Peace TV.

An educational trust run by Naik has already been prevented from receiving foreign funds and agencies are looking into its activities.

Bank accounts of school frozen

The bank accounts of Islamic International School (IIS) in Mumbai, run by Zakir Naik, have been frozen. The school, which has around 165 students (89 boys and remaining girls) has pre-primary, primary and secondary levels and imparts education in the IGCSE curriculum, Quranic and Arabic.

"Our administration informed us that the accounts were frozen on Thursday evening," said Imran Qureshi, principal of IIS. "Daily activities like providing mid-day meals to pre-primary students, snacks to the staff and daily chores are affected. Today I managed expenses from my pocket but I request thegovernment and everyone that the teaching and learning process not get disturbed. It is their exam time right now," said Qureshi.

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