Govt to peer into Zakir Naik's speeches, activities

Security agencies will carry out an extensive examination of the speeches of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who has been accused of promoting extremist and radical views.

The move comes after a fresh legal opinion suggested that more information should be gathered by security agencies to nail Naik, who has been away from the country ever since allegations surfaced against him, official sources said.

The security agencies have been asked to go deeper and examine more speeches of Naik delivered in last few years and the alleged irregularities committed by him, the sources said.

Naik has come under the scanner of the security agencies after Bangladeshi newspaper 'Daily Star' had reported that one of the attackers of the July 1 terror strike in Dhaka, Rohan Imtiaz ran a propaganda on Facebook last year quoting Naik.

He in a lecture aired on Peace TV, an international Islamic channel, had reportedly "urged all Muslims to be terrorists".

Naik, a popular but controversial Islamic orator and founder of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in the UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia.

He is popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV, although his preachings often demean other religions and even other Muslim sects.