Two of the seven terrorists who hacked to death 20 people at a Dhaka cafe; on Friday were inspired by a controversial Indian cleric, Zakir Naik, a report says.

Rohan Imtiaz, the son of a politician of Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League, posted a message on Facebook last year quoting Naik, a controversial Peace TV preacher, the Daily Star reported.

The cleric is described in the report as wildly popular in Bangladesh for his Peace TV sermons. He provoked strong condemnation in 2010 when, speaking to reporters in Mumbai, he refused to describe Osama bin Laden as a terrorist.

The founder of the Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, Zakir Naik is banned in UK and Canada for hate speeches against other religions.

He is also among 16 Islamic scholars banned in Malaysia.

Another Dhaka attacker, 22-year-old Nibras Islam, used to follow two alleged suspected ISIS recruiters – Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness – on Twitter in 2014.

Shami Witness is the Twitter account of 24-year-old Mehdi Biswas, who was arrested in India in 2014. Biswas was charged with operating the “single most influential pro-ISIS Twitter account”.

Anjem Choudary, 49, is a Pakistan-origin British citizen facing trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law. Choudary allegedly told his supporters to travel to territory controlled by the “barbaric regime” in Syria and Iraq.

“This means at least in the case Nibras and Rohan, they did not become radicalised overnight. They have been consuming radical materials for one to two years before finally disappearing in February-March and reappearing as ‘ISIS killers’ Friday night at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan,” said the newspaper report.