NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik was on Wednesday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case linked to the activities of the Mumbai underworld & fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. ED sources told CNN-News18 that Malik was not cooperating with the probe and there were certain financial transactions that it believes has hawala links.
The arrest comes after the 62-year-old NCP leader arrived at the ED’s office in south Mumbai’s Ballard Estate area at around 8 am where his statement was being recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Sources said that Malik, Maharashtra’s Minority Affairs Minister, had bought a property at LBS Kurla from one Salim Patil, who is believed to be a close aide of Haseena Parkar, Dawood Ibrahim’s younger sister. The property was bought at around Rs 35 to 40 lakh whereas the real cost of the property was more than Rs 4 crore. The other person who sold the property to Malik was Sardar Shahwali Khan, a civil contractor who was held guilty of helping Memon in executing the Mumbai serial blasts in 1993, sources added.
Here are the latest updates:
— Sources from the NCP told CNN-News18 that Malik is likely to step down as a minister and will submit his resignation. Meeting of top NCP leaders, including DCM Ajit Pawar, home minister Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal, is currently underway after Malik’s arrest.
— After his arrest, Malik said he won’t bow down. “We will fight and win. We won’t bow down,” Malik said waving to waiting media as he stepped out of the ED office in south Mumbai after spending eight hours there. Malik was then taken by ED officials in a vehicle for a medical check-up, sources said .
— Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has called for a meeting at 5 pm over Malik’s arrest. He is likely to hold a meeting with top NCP leaders as well.
Political row erupts: Malik’s questioning by the ED triggered a political row with the NCP claiming that action against Malik in a money laundering case is another instance of misuse of power and a pressure tactic to “silence his voice” since he had exposed the wrongdoings of some people in the recent past. The BJP, however, said the ED should be allowed to complete its inquiry into the case instead of dubbing the action as “vendetta politics”.
NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto alleged that the action against Malik was nothing but pressure tactics to silence his voice. He was exposing the wrongdoings of some people as a chief spokesperson of a political party. Voices of truth cannot be silenced, Crasto tweeted. Talking to reporters in Solapur, Maharashtra NCP president and state minister Jayant Patil said this was another instance of “misuse of power”.
“The ED reached his (Malik’s) residence at 6 am without issuing any notice. The ED had brought with it its own police. Some people may be deliberately trying to trouble him. The ED taking away a state minister for probe without any prior information is violation of everything,” he claimed.
Patil said he was not aware in which connection Malik is being probed and that it seemed anger is being “deliberately” expressed at the minister. However, senior BJP leader and former state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters that it is too early to call the ED’s inquiry as “vendetta politics” when the details of the action are not yet out.
“What should we call the way Union Minister Narayan Rane was arrested a few months back. BJP MLA Nitesh Rane is also being hounded by the state authorities. Malik is not a state-level leader of the NCP. If he has done something suspicious, then it should be probed. There should not be any rush to stamp it as vendetta politics,” Mungantiwar said.
Maharashtra BJP vice president Chitra Wagh said a few months back, serious was levelled by former state CM Devendra Fadnavis against Malik in connection with a suspicious land deal. “It should be probed thoroughly and the ED officials should be allowed to complete their investigation,” she said. The ED’s move against Malik comes after the registration of a new case and raids conducted by it on February 15 in Mumbai in connection with the operations of the underworld, linked alleged illegal property deals and hawala transactions.
NCP Workers Stage Protest: NCP workers on Wednesday protested near the party’s headquarters, located close to the ED’s office in south Mumbai, as the agency questioned Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik in connection with a money laundering case. The workers shouted slogans slamming the BJP-led central government and ED.
They said they are with Malik, NCP’s national spokesperson and the party’s Mumbai unit chief. The workers were seen heading towards the ED’s office, but were stopped by police personnel near the party’s office.
The NCP activists then did a sit-in protest. “The protest is against the unjust questioning of Nawab Malik as he was exposing the BJP+NCB+CBI+ED nexus on a daily basis. We will not be cowed down. NCP will keep exposing BJP and all central agencies,” party spokesperson Sanjay Tatkare said.
(With PTI inputs)
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