india

Updated: Jun 20, 2019 00:05 IST

A Mumbai court on Wednesday ordered controversial preacher Zakir Naik, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, to physically appear before it on July 31.

The special court also took cognisance of the latest complaint filed against Dubai-based jeweller Abdul Kadir Najmudin Sathak, booked for helping Naik raise and divert funds.

The ED had filed a complaint against Sathak and others on May 2. The court asked all the accused — Sathak, Aamir Gazdar and Naik — to appear before it on July 31. If Naik fails to turn up, the agency may seek a non-bailabale warrant against him. Naik is absconding at present and is a permanent resident of Malaysia.

Naik was booked by the ED in 2016, after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case against him. He has since been charged with promoting enmity between different groups, delivering hate speeches and money laundering.

Last month, the agency had filed a charge sheet against Naik on charges of laundering criminal money to the tune of Rs 193 crore and creating illegal real estate assets in India and abroad.

In the latest complaint, the ED alleged that Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) had organised Peace Conferences in Mumbai between 2007 and 2011, in which Naik attempted to convert people and incite terrorist acts. “The said conferences were planned, organised, funded and promoted by the IRF and people of other religions were openly converted to Islam by Naik,” the ED stated in a statement.