Govt pressurising Interpol to issue RCN, says Zakir Naik

Mumbai: Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik Thursday accused the Indian government of engaging in a witch-hunt and putting pressure on Interpol to issue a red corner notice against him.

Naik, who fled India in 2016, said that he was aware of the ‘pressure the Indian government was putting on Interpol’ to issue a red corner notice against him.

“It’s part of an elaborate witch-hunt. But having verified with a few member countries, I can confirm that there is no red corner notice against me as of date,” he claimed.

“One of the Indian newspapers seems to have jumped the gun and reported internal deliberations of the Indian government which, as a matter of fact, have been going on for over two years now,” he said.

Naik said Interpol had already cancelled a red corner notice against him, once. “And it’s been one-and-a-half years since the government submitted a charge sheet and started putting pressure on Interpol. But as things stand, I have no reason to believe that Interpol will succumb to any kind of undue pressure,” he said.

Naik, said to be in Malaysia at present, has been under investigation since 2016, when the Centre banned his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) for five years.

The National Investig-ation Agency (NIA) is probing him and ‘unnamed officials’ of  IRF under section 153-A of Indian Penal Code (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The preacher, declared a proclaimed offender by a special NIA court in June 2017, is accused of inciting youth to indulge in terror activities, giving hate speeches and promoting enmity between communities.

The NIA had filed a charge sheet against Naik and others before a Mumbai court in October 2017. The ED had also registered a criminal case against Naik and others last December after the NIA booked him under the UAPA.

The ED also summoned Naik for questioning, but he has not appeared before the agency.