Zakir Khan – the terrorist and part-time Islamic Preacher has once again embroiled himself in a major terrorist plot. According to several media reports, the Intelligence units of India had intercepted crucial financial transactions with links to fugitive terrorist Zakir Naik and a Kuala Lumpur-based Rohingya leader Mohammed Naseer, suggesting that one of the Malaysia-based Rohingya terror outfits may be in an advanced stage of orchestrating a terror strike in the country by a group, led by a woman.
According to India Today, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) has tracked financial transactions of around $2,00,000 made by the aforementioned Malaysia-based group, for an operation in India. The intel document states that a Chennai-based suspect, probably a hawala dealer, had received a part of this fund. Digging deeper, the sleuths were able to deduce that a group was to infiltrate India in mid or end of December through Bangladesh.
The origin or any identity-related details of the woman who supposedly trained in Myanmar for this strike is unclear but it is suspected that she was sent to Myanmar from Malaysia early this year, a source said. Reportedly, about 22 Intelligence agencies have been notified in advance to foil the conspiracy and avert any such attacks. The likely targets mentioned are Ayodhya, Bodhgaya, Punjab and Srinagar.
What gives this revelation an even darker twist is the fact that the intelligence agencies are suspicious of another terrorist organization named Popular Front of India (PFI) which could extend support to the group for logistics. The agencies have advised the states to keep a close eye on the fringe elements associated with the outfit.
As reported previously by TFI, PFI’s association with the Delhi riots earlier this year has been drawn by the Enforcement Directorate. Nearly a week back, ED had raided PFI’s offices throughout the country and found that unaccounted cash was kept at the organization’s Shaheen Bagh office, which would have most probably been used for funding anti-India and anti-Hindu activities in the National Capital.
Initial investigations by the ED has revealed that over Rs 120 crore was credited in 73 bank accounts linked to PFI and its related entities. The ED also reportedly found that crores were received by PFI including foreign contributions of Rs 50 lakh through three foreign entities.
Zakir’s involvement in the terrorism ploy should not come as a surprise to anyone as he has a history sheet of radicalizing gullible Islamists and turning them into precarious terrorists. For the uninitiated, Zakir Naik is a radical Islamic preacher, currently on the run after being banned by numerous countries and is hiding in Malaysia, as India looks to extradite him. The controversial televangelist came into the limelight when the perpetrators of the Dhaka terror attack were said to be inspired by his so-called teachings. Last year, the National Investigative Agency arrested 127 terrorists with links to ISIS and found all had been inspired by Zakir’s speeches.