As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) intensifies probe into the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) into alleged money laundering, the Republic TV reported that the ED unearthed a transaction between controversial Jihadist preacher Zakir Naik and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT).
According to the report, the transaction details of the account, which has been frozen now, shows a fund transfer allegedly amounting to Rs 50 lakhs, from Naik’s account to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable trust during the UPA regime in 2011. RGCT is a registered, not-for-profit organisation established in 2002 headed by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, as per its official website.
It has been revealed that the Trust received the money in 2011 and it was then returned after Zaik Naik escaped from India and the NIA registered a case against him.
The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) is chaired by Sonia Gandhi and has Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram listed as trustees,
There were reports that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi had received lakhs of rupees as donation from Embassy of China and Government of China. As per the Annual Reports betwen 2006 and 2008 of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, it has been found that the PMNRF had funded Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for several years.
Zakir Naik: Rabid preacher to financial fraudster to Fugitive
Zakir Naik was known for his hate speeches where he was seen deriding other faiths and traditions. NIA authorities and police of different states in India have found evidence to prove that Zakir Naik’s speeches have directly or indirectly influenced many terrorists to commit numerous acts of terror in India, Bangladesh and most recently in Sri Lanka. The terrorists who perpetrated the Sri Lankan blasts which killed more than 300 innocents were hugely influenced by the teachings of Zakir Naik. The proof for these allegations was revealed during the NIA raids in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. His name featured even during the investigations into the terror attack in Dhaka which killed 29 people.
Naik has been evading arrest in India since 2016, when allegations of hate speech and money laundering were made against him. It was alleged that he used his channel Peace TV to launder money outside India. Again in 2019, Enforcement Directorate filed money-laundering charges against him following which a Mumbai court granted the agency a warrant to arrest Naik and bring him to trial.
Zakir Naik and his speeches have been banned in several countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Bangladesh, including India. His Peace TV has also been banned in India, Sri Lank and many other countries.
