Interpol has decided to look into India’s request for issuing a red corner notice against Islamist preacher Zakir Naik. A team from Interpol is expected to visit New Delhi as part of its investigation into the matter. The Ministry of Home Affairs will hand over a dossier on Naik to the Interpol officials.
Zakir Naik had fled the country following the 2016 Dhaka terror attack where the terrorists claimed to be admirers of Naik. he is wanted in India for money laundering, hate speech and other offences of promoting communal hatred.
A red corner notice is sent to the 194 Interpol member countries, where a fugitive who is pending extradition is located and provisionally arrested.
Presently, Naik lives in Malaysia where he has been granted permanent residency by the Malaysian government. India’s request for extraditing him has been kept pending since January 2018. The Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has said that Naik would not be extradited as long as he doesn’t cause any trouble in Malaysia.
According to a report, the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF) met on April 19 to discuss India’s red corner notice request. The Commission would discuss the legal implications of issuing a red corner notice against Naik. NIA officials have been quoted to seem confident that that the CCF would issue a global arrest warrant for Zakir Naik.
Naik had approached the Interpol in 2017 playing the victim card saying that he was targeted for being a Muslim. NIA had refuted his claims and said that they have solid evidence on all charges laid against him. Interpol has finally agreed to take up the red corner notice request and CCF would inform India its final decision in a few days.
