Arshid Qureshi's Zakir Naik link: Kerala's Islamic State recruiter worked at preacher's foundation

Arshid Qureshi, who was arrested by a joint team of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and Kerala police on Wednesday night on the charges of radicalising Kerala youths and recruiting them for the Islamic State, is a guest relations officer at the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, a person close to Naik told Firstpost, but said no IRF staff has encouraged anyone to join IS.

“Zakir Naik and the IRF has repeatedly condemned the Islamic State for being anti-Islamic. No staff of the IRF will ever encourage anyone to join the IS. A year back, Naik had also conducted a staff meeting condemning the IS and had warned people not to get misguided by those who support it. It is the Anti-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, who wrongly call themselves as Islamic State,” the person said in a message.

Mobin Solkar, the advocate of Zakir Naik, said Arshid Qureshi is not a member of IRF.

The cops arrested Qureshi from his Navi Mumbai home following complaints by the brother of the alleged IS recruit, Merlin alias Mariam that Qureshi and Mariam’s husband, Bestin Vincent alias Yahia were behind the alleged conversion of Mariam and recruitment to IS. The brother, Ebin Jacob, was too approached for conversion.

“As per the statement, Qureshi insisted that Ebin should embrace Islam and join IS. It was Bestin who compelled Ebin to come to Mumbai and meet Qureshi," Ernakulam ACP K V Vijayan, the investigating officer, had said. Ebin’s statement said he was taken to Mumbai by Bestin, who had been indoctrinated in 2014.

But, the person close to Zakir Naik said Arshid Qureshi does not recall the ‘two youngsters” from two years back. “He (Arshid) meets scores of people visiting IRF every day as that’s his job,” the person said.

As many as 19 youths missing from Kerala have allegedly joined the Islamic State. Reports quoting Kerala police said that at Qureshi’s house in Mumbai, Ebin was taken to a library. Qureshi also made a comparison of all the religions. Ebin was told that Islam was superior to all other religions and that people in India were not leading a righteous life. But, Ebin didn’t fall for the talk and returned home.

If police confirms Qureshi’s association with Naik, more trouble is awaiting the controversial preacher, who is already facing investigations for allegedly inspiring terrorists involved in Dhaka operations. So far, Naik has denied having any links with terrorists or having inspiring the terrorists. But, in the recent past, Bangladesh and India had clamped down on Naik’s television channel, Peace TV.