NIA to file fresh plea for Red Corner Notice against Naik

New Delhi, December 17

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will file a fresh request before the Interpol for issuing Red Corner Notice against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, after its previous plea was rejected on the grounds that the agency had not filed any charge sheet against him, officials said on Sunday.

They said that since a charge sheet has now been filed in a special court in Mumbai, the NIA will move the Interpol for a Red Corner Notice against Naik.

Naik has been changing his base quite frequently after the NIA petitioned the Interpol for issuance of Red Corner Notice (RCN), international arrest warrant, against him, they said.

The preacher is being probed on terror and money laundering charges. He fled from India immediately after an investigation against him was initiated.

His present place of stay is unknown and it is believed that he has been shuttling between the UAE, Saudi Arabia and African and Southeast Asian countries.

Naik is accused of spreading hatred by his provocative speeches, funding terrorists and laundering several crores of rupees over the years.

The Interpol was approached in May against Naik after a year-long probe during which the NIA gathered evidence of his NGO—Islamic Research Foundation—and Peace TV, being used allegedly to promote hatred between different religious groups.

The Centre has already banned his NGO and taken his TV channel off air.

He fled from India on July 1, 2016, after one of the terrorists involved in an attack on a cafe in Dhaka claimed he was inspired by his speeches on waging jihad. — PTI