India will request for an Interpol Red Notice against preacher Zakir Naik and his extradition from Malaysia after securing a non-bailable warrant against him from a Mumbai special court.
The Hindu news site today reported that India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to secure an arrest warrant against the preacher and others in an ongoing trial heard by a special court in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.
The court will decide whether a non-bailable warrant of arrest should be issued against Zakir, with the next hearing scheduled for June 19.
Based on the warrant, the ED will approach the Interpol for issuing a Red Notice through which the assistance of all member countries is sought for the detention of the subject, the newspaper reported.
Malaysia is one of the members and it also has an extradition treaty with India, signed in 2010.
The warrant will also be the basis for the ED to open proceedings against Zakir under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The charges are related to more than 1.93 billion rupees (RM115.66 million) from proceeds of crime in India and overseas identified by the enforcement agency, The Hindu said.
In the charge sheet, the ED has alleged that Zakir made investments in Dubai where he is developing high-end bungalows, while his organisation, Islamic Research Foundation, is said to have received huge sums of money from “dubious, suspicious or unknown sources.”
The preacher is also accused by authorities in his home country of hate speech and inciting terrorism via his TV channel Peace TV.
Peace TV is banned in India but has an estimated 200 million viewers worldwide.
Despite Delhi having made an official request to have Zakir extradited, the Pakatan Harapan government said it would not comply unless he breaks local laws.