ED issues summons to Zakir Naik’s friends; five new properties under scanner

The agency earlier attached Islamic Research Foundation properties worth Rs18.37 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued summons to the acquaintances of televangelist Zakir Naik, against whom the agency has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The police have accused Naik of delivering speeches that spread communal discord. (HT File)

The ED has called the owners of five properties to determine how they obtained the money to buy them. They are trying to trace the source of these funds.

“Five properties have been identified, which belong to Naik’s acquaintances, who we have summoned,” said a high-ranking ED officer.

“The properties, in the form of a land and flats, are in Mumbai and Pune,” he added.

The agency earlier attached Islamic Research Foundation’s (IRF) properties worth Rs18.37 crore in the form of mutual funds, real estate and bank balances.

The attachment included mutual funds worth Rs9.41 crore of IRF, a godown worth Rs68 lakh belonging to Harmony Media Private Limited, and a school building worth Rs7.05 crore belonging to Islamic Education Trust in Chennai.

Five IRF bank accounts, which had Rs1.23 crore, were also attached provisionally.Amir Gazdar, a close confidante of Naik who was the only arrest in the case in February, was granted bail in July.

The ED is set to move the high court against it. The central agency has filed enforcement case information reports (ECIR) against Naik.

After a ban on his foundation, the National Investigation Agency registered a case against him and the IRF on charges of inciting Muslim youth to indulge in violence and promoting enmity between groups on the basis of religion and race.

The police also accused him of delivering speeches that spread communal discord.