ED arrests Zakir’s close aide

| | New Delhi
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ED arrests Zakir’s close aide

Saturday, 23 March 2019 | PNS | New Delhi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested a close aide of terror preacher Zakir Naik from Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case against him and others.

The agency arrested Abdul Kadir Najmudin Sathak, a jeweller, under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) for his role in “actively assisting Naik and aiding him in money laundering by transferring funds of dubious origin from the UAE to facilitate production and broadcasting incriminating videos for spreading communal hatred and radicalisation of a particular community.”

Following his arrest, the agency will soon file a fresh chargesheet in this case based on the fresh evidence that will be gathered after questioning Sathak, sources said.

Sathak had allegedly sent about Rs 50 crore funds directly to Naik, which the preacher illegally routed and laundered, the sources said.

Sathak was also the director of Global Broadcasting Corporation FZE LLC that owned Naik’s Peace TV channel. The company Global Broadcasting was “controlled” by Naik.

He will be produced before a special PMLA court in Mumbai.

“An amount of Rs 79 crore was received from GBC to Ms Harmony Media Pvt Ltd. But for these monies, it would not have been possible to produce these controversial speeches of Naik and reach wider audiences through Peace TV,” the agency alleged.

 It claimed that the source of funds remitted by GBC to Harmony Media is “suspicious” as advertisements were not run on this channel and Sathak had not submitted any details in this context.

Naik has been under investigation of the Central probe agencies since 2016, when the Centre banned his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) for five years.

Indian security agencies have been monitoring him ever since allegations surfaced that he had inspired one of the militants involved in the Dhaka restaurant terror attack on July 1, 2016, which left 22 people dead. One of the Dhaka attackers was reportedly radicalized after watching programmes of Peace TV.

Naik, wanted in India for terror-related activities and hate speech, reportedly left the country in 2016 and has since obtained permanent residency from the Malaysian Government.

The ED had registered a criminal case against Naik and others in December, 2016 after taking cognisance of a National Investigation Agency (NIA) FIR filed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)

The ED is probing money laundering aspect of Naik’s dubious business and the subsequent proceeds of crime thus generated.

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