Naik’s asset haul is Rs 50 cr & counting

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, January 21

Residential and commercial properties worth around Rs 50 crore belonging to controversial preacher Zakir Naik have so far been attached by various investigating agencies.

Last week, the Enforcement Directorate attached four properties in buildings under construction in different parts of Mumbai and Pune. The four flats have been valued at around Rs 16.50 crore.

Officials said the preacher and his associates had routed funds received from various national and international organisations to the bank accounts of his relatives and the properties were purchased in their name.

According to police and home department sources here, 35 residential and commercial properties are under the scanner as Naik and his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) are suspected to have diverted funds collected in the name of religious activities to fund their purchase. “The final haul may exceed Rs 100 crore,” a state government official said.

Naik is holed up in Malaysia and has refused to return to India citing religious persecution. The preacher was a regular in his Peace TV and his sermons enjoyed a following in India and other Asian countries. He came under the scanner of investigating agencies after terrorists who carried out an attack in Dhaka in 2016 were allegedly found to have been inspired by his speeches.