Indian investigators are looking into the transfer of funds to controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) by Pakistan-based terror outfit and businessmen close to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Three days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India arrested Naik's chief financial officer Aamir Gazdar for alleged money laundering, the trail has led the investigators to Pakistan and the D-Company.
The ED is probing several businessmen in Karachi, known to be close to Dawood, who are suspected to have moved money into IRF accounts, Mumbai Mirror reported.
Security agencies are also monitoring a terror outfit masquerading as a charitable and social organisation for funding Mumbai-based IRF.
A senior ED official told Mumbai Mirror that a closely coordinated investigation was on to conclusively find out whether the terror outfit and businessmen close to Dawood had moved funds to Naik's NGO.
The official said funds were also illegally routed to the IRF from Saudi Arabia, UK, and several smaller African countries.
According to the ED and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, a hawala dealer from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, identified as Sultan Ahmed, acted as a mediator.
"Sultan Ahmed met Zakir Naik in Dubai in 2012, and since then, Naik started receiving funding from several sources in the UK and a few African countries,” an IB source was quoted as saying.
Hawala is a method of transferring money without any actual movement.
The source said there was a “strong suspicion” that people related to Dawood had been routing this money to Naik's NGO.
Conclusive details were yet to emerge from the investigation, a senior IB officer said, adding that Naik appeared to have “contacts and financial interests in Pakistan.”
ED sources said interrogation of Naik's chief financial officer Gazdar revealed multiple layers of fund placements after the money was routed to the IRF.
“Gazdar created several dummy companies to hide the sources of money accessed by the IRF.”
Despite repeated attempts, Naik and the IRF officials remained unavailable for comment.
Naik founded the IRF in 1991 when he started religious preaching. His lectures are popular in Bangladesh too.
The doctor-turned-preacher came under the spotlight again after it emerged that at least one of the Dhaka cafe attackers drew inspiration from his speeches.
Naik denies encouraging acts of terror through his speeches although he had courted controversies in the past with statements.
India banned IRF for five years in November last year. Bangladesh banned Naik’s Peace TV in July last year. The channel was also banned in India.
