(Image source from: IndiaTV)

Absconding Non-Resident Indian (NRI) tele-evangelist Zakir Naik on Friday slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleging that though he had no earnings he had transferred Rs 46 crore in a six-year period.

In a detailed statement, Naik, an Islamic preacher said: "Why is the ED lying? When everyone - including all the government agencies - know that I have multiple businesses and revenue streams and my earnings have always reflected in the tax returns I have filed, why is ED lying about it?"

He sought to know "whether the pressure" is so huge that they (ED) had to resort to lies to achieve the goal set out by "their political bosses".

Naik's retort came two days after the ED filed a charge sheet before the Special prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court’s Special Judge M.S. Azmi, accusing him of money-laundering.

According to the ED charge sheet, Naik keeps traveling around the world with no "known sources" of income and yet he got along to transfer Rs 49.20 crore to his Indian bank accounts and that the total earning of the crime was around Rs 193 crore.

By Sowmya Sangam