MUMBAI: Indian police officials were deployed outside the office of Islamic preacher and scholar Zakir Naik on Thusrday, Times of India reported.

The Daily Star, a Bangladeshi newspaper, earlier reported that Rohan Imtiaz, one of the five suspected militants involved in the recent Dhaka bloodbath, ran a propaganda campaign on Facebook last year quoting Naik's speech on Peace TV.

Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju earlier this week said "Zakir Naik's speech is a matter of concern for us. Our agencies are working on this. But as a minister, I will not comment what action will be taken," according to an Indian Express report.

Security personnel have been deployed outside Naik's Islamic Research Foundation office in Mumbai as a 'precautionary measure', a senior Mumbai police official said.

"We have neither received any threat perception nor particular instructions from the state or Central government. We have deployed our forces only as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident," he said.

Naik, who has in the past advocated that "every Muslim should be a terrorist", was banned from entry into the United Kingdom in 2010.

Naik rubbishes reports of inspiring Dhaka attacker

In a video statement later in the day, Naik rubbished media reports about inspiring one of the attackers to carry out the Dhaka cafe carnage.

He said he never condoned terrorism or killing of innocent people in his speeches.

"Just because a person knows a personality who is famous and a celebrity, you cannot attribute every act of the person to the celebrity," Naik said in a WhatsApp video available with India's NDTV.

"If you listen to my talks, you will never ever find in any of them that I have condoned terrorism or killing of an innocent human being," he added.

Opinion

Editorial

A political resolution
Updated 13 Dec, 2024

A political resolution

It seems that there has been some belated realisation that a power vacuum has been created at expense of civilian leadership.
High price increases
13 Dec, 2024

High price increases

FISCAL stabilisation prescribed by the IMF can be expensive — for the common people — in more ways than one. ...
Beyond HOTA
13 Dec, 2024

Beyond HOTA

IN a welcome demonstration of HOTA’s oversight role, kidney transplant services have been suspended at...
General malfeasance
Updated 12 Dec, 2024

General malfeasance

Will Gen Faiz Hameed's trial prove to be a long overdue comeuppance or just another smokescreen?
Electricity rates
12 Dec, 2024

Electricity rates

THE government is renegotiating power purchase agreements with private power producers to slash their capacity...
Aggression in Syria
12 Dec, 2024

Aggression in Syria

TAKING advantage of the chaos in post-Assad Syria, Israel has proceeded to grab more of the Arab state’s land,...