An Indian Islamist "hate preacher" accused of inspiring militants who killed 22 civilians in an attack on a café in Dhaka in July 2016 is found to have been reaching out to audiences in Britain through his private television channel.

Zakir Naik, who is now based in Malaysia after fleeing India, is referred to as a hate preacher promoting a fundamentalist brand of Islam. A doctor by training, he abandoned medicine to launch the Islamic Research Foundation and the Islamic International School in Mumbai.

The 53-year-old is reportedly using his channel, Peace TV, to continue to reach out to audiences in Britain with what is feared to be extremist content.

UK media watchdog, Ofcom, confirmed it is pursuing six separate investigations into the channel for potential breaches of the broadcasting code. Peace TV has already been rebuked twice by Ofcom for showing offensive content, but managed to retain its licence.

The channel was founded by Naik in 2006 and claims to have 200 million viewers around the world. Both its English and Urdu language channels are available on Sky in the UK, even though they are officially banned in Bangladesh and India.

Indian authorities have sought Naik's extradition from Malaysia, accusing him of hate speech and inciting young people to spread terrorism.

A report by the Henry Jackson Society think tank questions why Peace TV has not been taken off the air in the UK.

“We are currently concluding six detailed investigations into Peace TV, under Ofcom rules that protect audiences from hate speech, offence and the incitement of crime,” an Ofcom statement said.

“We will announce the outcome of those investigations soon. We have a clear track record, which this report recognises, of tackling harmful content and taking action against those responsible including taking channels off air,” it adds.