Zakir Naik will not be arrested on his return to India: Maharashtra intelligence department

Zakir Naik has been given a clean chit by the Maharashtra State Intelligence Department (SID). Sources from the investigation team told The Hindu that Zakir Naik will not be arrested upon his arrival in India, as no case can be made against the controversial preacher for now. The intelligence department, following orders of a probe into Zakir Naik’s speeches and activities from the Maharashtra government, reportedly could not gather any evidence to link Naik to terror-related activities . [caption id=“attachment_2878430” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Zakir Naik. YouTube[/caption] As per the report in The Hindu, the SID has studied hundreds of YouTube videos and speeches given by the controversial preacher in and out of India. “There is no case to be made out against the English-speaking preacher, except maybe the possible charge of hurting religious sentiments, but even that cannot be established from his speeches." said a police official. He further added that Zakir Naik’s movements are being tracked. Zakir Naik, who had cancelled his return to India on Monday, has said that no Indian government agency has reached out to him for clarification regarding the issue, in a statement made available to  Firstpost . “So far not a single official of the Indian government agency has contacted me for any clarification regarding this issue. It would be my pleasure to cooperate with any official Indian government investigation agency for any information they might require from me,” Naik said in his statement. Naik’s decision not to return to India despite the nature of charges raised against him had instantly prompted the Indian media to say that Naik is dodging police, says Firstpost. But, as _Firstpost_ noted earlier, there is no serious charge against the preacher from Dongri in Mumbai, beyond possible charges of hurting religious sentiments. According to the SID, there isn’t any strong evidence of Naik’s terror-links beyond the charge that he has inspired Dhaka and Hyderabad terrorists linked to the Islamic State. Naik has been preaching for years. But, his name has surfaced only now in this fashion after the Bangladesh attacks and after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) busted an Islamic State module in Hyderabad. In both cases, the accused (Rohan Imtiaz and Ibrahim Yazdani respectively) have confessed to the investigators that they were ‘inspired’ by Naik’s speeches. Naik has always maintained that his speech was taken out of context and media is trying to put him in a bad light by being ‘devilish’. However, Naik’s reluctance to return to India have only raised more suspicion.