In a major setback to Indian intelligence agencies, Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s spokesperson on Saturday said that the Interpol has cancelled the red corner notice on Naik.

In a statement, Naik’s spokesperson said : “Interpol has cancelled red corner notice on Dr Naik and instructed its worldwide offices to delete all data from files on him, have cited political and religious bias among other reasons.”

The spokesperson further added that the National Investigation Agency’s request for Red Notice against Naik was not accepted by Interpol as charge sheet had not been filed when the request was submitted to the Interpol headquarters.

Last year in November, the Indian government had banned Naik and his organisation for five years, the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) after declaring it an “unlawful” organisation.

Meanwhile, last month, the External Affairs ministry said that India’s legal process for approaching Malaysia for the extradition of Zakir Naik, charged by the NIA for radicalising youths, is “nearing completion” and soon an official request will be sent. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also said that the ministry’s internal process was underway in the case.