‘Three people involved in Dhaka attack admirers of Zakir Naik’

NEW DELHI: Three people who alleged to have staged the July 1 terrorist attack in Dhaka were reportedly admirers of Zakir Naik, founder of the now-banned Islamic Research Foundation, the government told the Rajya Sabha. In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said as per available information, although the mandate of the Islamic Research Foundation was conducting educational and social work, it was also involved in other activities.

“Noticing certain violations of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, the IRF has been placed under the prior permission category” to accept foreign funding, it said.

The Cabinet on Tuesday declared the IRF, an NGO promoted by the Islamic preacher, as an outlawed organisation for five years under the anti-terror law for its alleged terror activities. The move comes after an investigation by the home ministry found that the IRF was having links with Peace TV, a channel accused of propagating terrorism.

According to the home ministry, Naik, who heads the IRF, made many provocative speeches and engaged in terror propaganda. Naik came under the scanner of the security agencies after Bangladeshi newspaper 'Daily Star' reported that one of the perpetrators of the July 1 terror attack, Rohan Imtiaz, ran propaganda on Facebook last year quoting Naik. The Islamic orator is banned in the UK and Canada for his speech aimed against other religions.