Days after the arrest of Salman Azhari in connection to his genocidal speech against the Hindu community in Junagadh city of Gujarat, it has come to light that the Islamic hate preacher withdrew ₹27.75 lakh from a charitable trust account within 1 year.
The matter came to light during a probe by the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Junagadh district police into the financial dealings and foreign trips of Salman Azhari. This crucial piece of information was conveyed to the judicial magistrate of Junagadh by Inspector JJ Patel through an affidavit.
According to the LCB, a whopping ₹52 lakh was deposited in the bank account of Salman Azhari-run charitable trust ‘Al-Amaan Education and Welfare Trust’ in 2023. The police are now investigating the money trail and determining whether funds have been channelled for illegal activities.
“We are investigating who deposited this money…As per the bank account statement, (Azhari) himself withdrew Rs 27.75 lakh from it. We are investigating how he used the money. If it emerges that the money was used for illegal activities, we may need his presence for interrogation,” Inspector JJ Patel stated opposing the bail application of Salman Azhari.
Besides, the Local Crime Branch of Junagadh district police found three other bank accounts associated with the Islamic hate preacher and his family.
Inspector JJ Patel added in his affidavit, “Efforts are on to get details of all those accounts. Once we have those details, it is likely that we will need the presence of the accused for an in-depth investigation about each transaction.”
The cops are also probing the overseas travels of Salman Azhari from 2022 till now, based on his passport number.
Salman Azhari sent to police remand
On Thursday (8th February), the Kutch police produced Salman Azhari before the judicial magistrate and sought 14 days of custody.
After hearing the matter, judicial magistrate Yogita Sharma sent the hate preacher to police remand till Sunday (11th February). While speaking on the issue, police inspector N N Chudasama informed, “The court sent Azhari to three-days police remand.”
“We need to find the source of funding for the program where the alleged speech was made and who else were involved. We also need to check his social media accounts,” he added.
The controversy surrounding Salman Azhari
On 31st January, Salman Azhari made derogatory remarks against the Hindu community during his 56-minute-long speech in Junagadh city of Gujarat.
In the contentious video that went viral on social media, the radical Islamic preacher was heard saying, “Abhi to karbala ka akhiri maidan baqi hai…Kuch der ki khamoshi hai, fir shore ayega… Aaj kutton ka wakt hai, kal hamara daur ayega (The final battle of Karbala is yet to come… a moment of silence, then there will be noise again. The dogs are having their time today. Our time will come tomorrow).”
His provocative remarks against the Hindus were applauded by his supporters, who yelled ‘Labbek ya Rasulullah’ in unison. But this was not the only genocidal comment made by Salman Azhar on that day.
“Aaj Kutton Ka Wakt Hai, Hamara Daur Ayega”: Video of Mufti Salman Azhari’s hate speech in Junagadh goes viral, action sought pic.twitter.com/FFqabYMXGY
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) February 2, 2024
Prior to his ‘dog reference’, Salman Azhari spoke in the context of the Ram Mandir Pran Prathiostha at Ayodhya and the legal battle surrounding the disputed Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi.
“If you keep idols inside a mosque, then, it will not become an idol-worshipping place (referring to temples),” he had stated. Azhari defended the tendency of Islamic invaders to appropriate religious structures of non-Muslims and pagans.
“You have kept 1 idol ( at Ram Mandir) but there were 360 idols at Kaaba. Even then, the Kaaba belonged to the Muslims. This did not atop the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj,” he continued.
“…Dear Muslims, the revolution will begin from your homes. They (Hindus) do not have the courage to convert your mosques to idol-worshipping places (referring to temples). You have yourself abandoned the mosques,” Azhari further added.
While referring to the Hindus as ‘dogs’, he emphasised, “We have a saying – When the ground is left open, dogs take over the place. But if you keep using the ground, then, they won’t become the shelter for dogs.”
Following his speech, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him. On Sunday (4th February), a team of Gujarat police reached Mumbai and arrested Salman Azhari in connection to his genocidal comments.
The cops also obtained a 2-day transit remand to take the Islamic hate preacher to Junagadh in Gujarat. As expected, Muslim ‘journalists’ came to defend Azhari on social media and seek his immediate release.
