Controversial preacher Zakir Naik deliberately insulted the religious beliefs of Hindus, Christians and Islamic sects like Shia, Sufi and Barelvi, and his speeches influenced recruits to the cause of the so-called Islamic State, the National Investigation Agency has said.

The agency has chargesheeted the "televangelist" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for heading an 'unlawful association' and accused him of inciting youth to take up terror acts and join global terror outfits like Islamic State, reports the time of India.

Naik's NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), banned in 2016 under the UAPA, as well as private firm Harmony Media Pvt Ltd were named as co-accused for having conspired with Naik to promote enmity and hatred between different religious groups and insulting certain sects of Islam and other religions .

Naik had "deliberately" and "maliciously" insulted beliefs of Hindus, Christians and certain Muslim sects that did not subscribe to Wahhabism, with the intention to outrage religious feelings, and IRF and Harmony Media were instrumental in the circulation of incriminating speeches in the form of CDs/DVDs/TV programmes, the NIA said.

Naik, the chargesheet added, had delivered over 1,500 public lectures/talks in India and abroad since 1994. "In these lectures/QA sessions, Naik states that only Islam is the true religion. He also says that among the religious books of all religions, only Quran is in original form, all other religious texts have been corrupted. He publicly claims that all the other messengers, including Moses, Jesus as well as Sri Krishna, preached Islam. He criticises religious practices observed by other religions as well as non-Wahhabi Islamic sects such as Shias, Sufis and Barelvis, and terms them un-Islamic," the NIA said.

BDST: 1430 HRS, OCT 27, 2017
AP