KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — India’s latest bid for global law enforcement agency Interpol to issue a red corner notice (RCN) for controversial preacher Zakir Naik has gone unheeded, said a minister in the South Asian country.

According to the Times of India, Indian Home Minister Hansraj Gangaram Ahir disclosed that his country filed a fresh request for a RCN after Interpol dismissed a previous attempt as “premature”.

Interpol noted before that India was attempting to extradite Zakir ahead of filing formal charges against the preacher whom the country has linked to terrorism and terrorism-related funding.

“A fresh warrant was issued by the Court against Zakir Naik … And a fresh Red Corner Notice was sent to Interpol on January 3, 2018,” Ahir was quoted as saying in a written reply to his country’s parliament.

Advertisement

“No further communication has been received so far from the Interpol.”

India previously labelled Zakir as a “terrorism suspect” for whom it has repeatedly issued warrants seeking his attendance for police questioning there.

A RCN flags a suspect as wanted by an Interpol member state and solicits others to provisionally detain the person pending a formal extradition request.

Advertisement

The country's National Intelligence Agency (NIA) previously claimed to possessed compelling evidence that the preacher violated Indian law, explaining that he was investigated for funding terrorist activities via his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

Zakir has consistently denied the allegations.

The Indian national is a permanent resident in Malaysia.

The Royal Malaysia Police disclosed previously that India has not filed any request to extradite the preacher.

Zakir reportedly fled India to avoid arrest after several perpetrators of a terror attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh claimed to have been inspired by his sermons, which prompted the NIA’s case against him under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The preacher is a polarising personality in Malaysia, alternately held in esteem by some in the Muslim community and reviled by those of other faiths due to his provocative teachings.