Feb 23, 2022 06:00 pm
Nawab Malik was produced before a special court for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case linked to the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. After eight hours of questioning he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and would be in agency‘s custody till 3rd March.
"I have been forcibly brought here. They should have sent summons first but they picked me up from my house," he said when he was put in the witness box
While stepping out of the ED office Mr Malik said "We will fight and win, and expose everyone," he said. He was then taken by ED officials in a vehicle to the state-run J J Hospital for a medical check-up.
Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, "In the last 30 years, no one took name of Nawab Malik in connection with the Mumbai blast. But now he is speaking against Union government, hence to shut his mouth, he was arrested today".
Nawab Malik is the second Maharashtra Minister to be arrested by a central probe agency in four months. Former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the ED in November last year. After today's arrest, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has called for an emergency meeting of top party leaders at his residence.
On February 15, the ED had carried out raids at 10 locations including premises linked to Dawood Ibrahim's late sister Haseena Parkar, brother Iqbal Kaskar and Salim Qureshi alias Salim Fruit, brother-in-law of gangster Chhota Shakeel. The agency also took custody of Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar in the same case. According to sources, some evidence related to property purchased by Nawab Malik has surfaced during the ongoing investigation.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said invoking Dawood was a convenient way to sully someone's reputation. "I don't know about the case against him but Dawood's name has always been invoked to try to defame rivals,"