Mumbai-based Islamic preacher Zakir Naik under NIA scanner after Dhaka terror attack

New Delhi: Founder of Islamic Research Foundation, Zakir Naik has been hogging the headlines, after it was revealed that one of the five young militants, who slaughtered 20 innocent people at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, used to follow the Mumbai-based preacher.
The National Investigating Agency (NIA) has started examining the speeches of Zakir Naik. The officials have been asked to be extra cautious and be very specific with the facts regarding the popular Mumbai-based preacher, a report said on Wednesday.
A senior government official told ‘The Times of India’ that the NIA sleuths have been directed to investigate whether Naik advocates any terrorist outfit or justifies terrorism with his speeches.
Peace TV’s controversial preacher Naik is banned in the UK and Canada.
Terrorist Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, propagated on Facebook last year quoting Naik “urging all Muslims to be terrorists”, the Daily Star reported.
50-year-old Naik, a doctor, had refused to describe Osama bin Laden as a terrorist. The United Kingdom, Malaysia and Canada has banned him from entering their territory.
In 2010, while answering a question about why he was banned from entering Britain, Naik had said it was because he exhorts all Muslims to be terrorists.
Islamist gunmen killed 20 hostages, mainly foreigners, and two policemen during the bloody siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1. Six gunmen were shot dead and one was captured by security forces.