Zambri Vinoth so called religious leader speaking bad about Hindus and Hindu religion

ED moves court to declare Zakir Naik a fugitive economic offender

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The ED filed the application before the PMLA seeking that Naik be declared as a fugitive economic offender under Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday moved an application before a special court here seeking to declare controversial Islamic preacher, Zakir Naik, a fugitive economic offender.

Naik, believed to be in Malaysia, is facing the charge of allegedly laundering money to the tune of Rs 193 crore.

The ED filed the application before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) seeking that Naik be declared as a fugitive economic offender under Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

The court said it would hear the application on September 30.

Last week, the court issued a fresh non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Naik in a 2016 money laundering case.

The central agency has so far arrested two of Naik's aides namely Amir Gazdar and Najamuddin Sathak.

The 53-year-old radical television preacher left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to the largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.

The ED booked him in 2016 on an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The controversial preacher is wanted by authorities for alleged money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches.

In July this year, the court issued summons against Naik after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the ED against Dubai-based jeweller Abdul Kadir Najmudin Sathak for allegedly assisting the preacher in raise and diverting funds.

Earlier, the agency had attached Naik's properties, including Islamic International School in Chennai, ten flats, three godowns, two buildings and land in Pune and Mumbai, besides bank accounts

What is so special about fugitive Naik?

P Ramasamy - Penang deputy chief minister (II)

Is it true in a recent meeting between Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohammed and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Vladivostok, Russia, the former requested for the extradition of the Islamic preacher and fugitive Zakir Naik?

I don’t really think we can understand what actually transpired in the one-hour conversation between Modi and Mahathir. Whether Modi requested for Zakir’s extradition is not important as India had formally made the request as early as 2018.

So whether Modi made the request and whether this was denied by Mahathir have become academic in nature. Therefore it serves no purpose in finding out the truth; in fact, the truth has become lost in the manner the media has covered the subject matter.

What is important for us is why Zakir, despite the havoc he has created in India and Malaysia, he has been given a VIP status in the country so much so he is regarded as one of the most influential persons in the country.

Apart from the fact no country wants to take him, there is fear that his expulsion might cause domestic problems in the country especially amongst sections who have come to regard him as a respected Islamic preacher.

More than two hundred police reports have been lodged against Zakir and police investigations are ongoing. However, if leaders like Mahathir are not inclined to extradite him, police investigations would make no impact.

It is clear that Naik has violated the conditions that were imposed in granting him a permanent residency status but the government still wants to bend over backwards to protect him.

It is not clear that the government would have extended the protection to others who have come in to make insensitive remarks about Muslims or non-Muslims.

The question is why this application of double-standard when it comes to Zakir?

Shouldn’t a responsible government of the day protect its citizens whether Muslims or non-Muslims from being hurt by the insensitive remarks from persons like Zakir?

Let not the government of Malaysia be ridiculed and made fun by the international community for bending over backwards in politics protecting a fugitive and runaway against its own citizens.

ED to invoke Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against Zakir Naik

Sources in the Enforcement Directorate have said the probe agency is all set to invoke the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against Zakir Naik who is currently in Malaysia.

In a development in the extradition process of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, currently based in Malaysia, the Enforcement Directorate is all set to invoke the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against him.

Sources in the probe agency have told India Today that the ED is all set to file an application before the court to declare Zakir Naik 'fugitive’ under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

Under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, effective action can be taken against economic offenders who have fled Indian jurisdiction. It provides for attachment and confiscation of property of fugitive economic offenders and disentitles them from defending any civil claim.

If declared fugitive, the ED will have the power to attach his overseas properties. The development will also help probe agencies in extradition of Zakir Naik from Malaysia.

Fresh non-bailable warrant against Zakir Naik

On Wednesday, a Mumbai court had issued a fresh non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Zakir Naik in the 2016 alleged money laundering case.

The warrant was issued by Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court judge PP Rajvaidya on a plea filed by the ED which is probing the case.

Last week, Naik had moved a plea through his lawyer seeking time for two months to appear before the court, which was rejected. The ED on Monday moved a fresh plea seeking the NBW.

The ED has claimed to have identified Rs 193.06 crore as the proceeds of crime in the 2016 case.

Who is Zakir Naik

Zakir Naik, a 53-year-old radical television preacher, left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to the largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.

The ED booked him in 2016 on an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The controversial preacher is wanted by authorities for alleged money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches.

New Delhi rebuts PM’s ‘India don’t want Zakir back’ claim

New Delhi has rebutted Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s assertion that India did not insist on the return on Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik.

According to the Hindustan Times, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (above) was quoted saying that India has instead been “persistently and relentlessly” pursuing the fugitive.

The controversial preacher is wanted back in his native India to answer to several criminal charges concerning money laundering, terrorism and inciting hate speech. Zakir has denied any wrongdoing.

He currently lives in Malaysia, where he enjoys permanent resident status granted by the BN-led government.

“Let me make it very clear for the record.

“There is an extradition request (sent in January 2018). We want Zakir Naik back and that is what we are working on,” Jaishankar was quoted telling reporters there yesterday.

He also reportedly insisted India’s expectation of Zakir being extradited was communicated at the meeting between the two prime ministers in Russia earlier this month.

The meeting between the two leaders took place in Vladivostok, ahead of the three-day Eastern Economic Summit.

Jaishankar was referring to comments made by Mahathir during an interview with business radio station BFM yesterday.

During the interview, the premier insisted that no other country was willing to accept Zakir. He added that India also had not insisted on the preacher’s return.

"I met (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and he didn't (tell) me that he wants this man back. This man could also be troublesome for India," Mahathir had said.

Mahathir had previously also stated that Modi had merely mentioned Zakir during the Russian meet but “didn't ask for anything”.

However, it has been reported that India had filed an extradition request with Malaysia in January, last year, and made repeated attempts to get Interpol to issue a red notice against Zakir but has been unsuccessful.

An Interpol red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

Muslim preacher Zakir Naik allegedly offered M'sian citizenship, says report

PETALING JAYA: Controversial Muslim scholar Dr Zakir Naik (pic) has been given a Malaysian citizenship, according to an article published in the Hindustan Times

Naik, who has preached and conducted programmes in Malaysia before, was also alleged by the report to be currently hiding here after his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) was recently banned by Indian authorities.

He is also under investigation by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), who are closely monitoring his whereabouts and have reportedly prevented his family members from leaving the country.

The report quoted one of Naik’s representatives as confirming the development, saying that the Malaysian citizenship was offered as a package deal to the Muslim preacher when he was awarded the Tokoh Ma’al Hijrah title back in 2013.

“It is the state policy of Malaysia to offer citizenship to the awardees of the highest civilian honour of their land. Naik is now a Malaysian citizen too,” the Hindustan Times quoted the unnamed representative as saying.

The report also alleged that Naik, a renowned televangelist, was holed up in Malaysia as a tactic to avoid the NIA investigations.

He was earlier suspected by authorities of being either in Thailand or Africa.

On Friday, Naik issued a statement criticising the move to ban his IRF organisation and the subsequent case against him.

He stressed that he had always advocated peace and condemned violence of any form during his public speeches.

A separate report published by the Hindustan Times quoted him as saying that the probe against him would have been a non-issue if government investigators had done “a thorough job”.

“I expected professional investigators from government agencies to do a thorough job. Had they done so, this issue would have been a no-brainer, a non-issue.

“But I guess that was not the plan. The plan was to ban, not investigate,” he said in the statement.

NIA officials had in recent days conducted raids at 20 commercial and residential properties reportedly belonging to Naik, and had seized several official documents.

Among others, the documents showed that the IRF had purportedly given an Rs80,000 (RM5200) scholarship to Abu Anas, a Rajasthan native who was arrested in January while he was allegedly planning to go to Syria to fight for the Islamic State.

Malaysian authorities could not be immediately reached for comment on the alleged citizenship offered to Naik.