Televangelist Zakir Naik, who was to address the media on Tuesday, did not board the flight from Mecca to Mumbai with his family, a source said on Monday.
Televangelist Zakir Naik, who was to address the media on Tuesday, did not board the flight from Mecca to Mumbai with his family, a source said on Monday.
Zakir Naik, who heads the Islamic Research Foundation, is being investigated by the Mumbai police after the Bangladesh government alleged that two of the terrorists who attacked foreigners in a cafe in Dhaka had been inspired by Mr Naik’s speeches. About 20 to 25 Mumbai police officers are currently scanning videos of his sermons and going through his publications.
According to a source, Mr Naik said, “I would have loved to give interviews, whether for television channels or for the print media, but I fear that most of them will not publish it unedited or without twisting it. I came to this conclusion after I had given a few interviews, most of which were unfortunately mutilated and misutilised to serve the vested agenda of the channel or the newspaper.”
The source said Mr Naik had no plans to return to Mumbai soon. “As far as we know he is going to come only next year,” said an IRF employee.
The Mumbai police said its preliminary report would be sent to the CM in a few days. Sources said the police would contact Mr Naik before submitting its final report.
“We have recorded the statements of his employees and these will be included in the preliminary report. We will also include our findings from the videos that we have started scanning,” said an officer.
