A war of words has broken out recently between Nawab Malik and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis. Malik started leveling allegations against Fadnavis in the context of Aryan Khan drugs case. Fadnavis has retaliated strongly.
On November 1, Malik alleged that Fadnavis had links with drug smugglers. He released a picture of Jaideep Rana with Fadnavis’ wife Amrita. Rana is lodged in a Delhi jail for allegedly possessing and buying drugs. “Devendra Fadnavis has been the mastermind of the drugs syndicate in Maharashtra,” Malik alleged.
In a counter-attack on November 9, Fadnavis alleged that Malik had links with the underworld. At a press conference, he allegedly produced documents showing that Malik and his family bought a 2.8-acre plot in 2005 from Mohammad Salim Patel, an aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar, and a convict Sardar Shavli Khan. Was. 1993 serial bomb blasts case. The Malik family had bought the property through their company, Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd.
The prime plot on LBS Road in Kurla was bought for Rs 30 lakh, when the market rate at that time was Rs 2,053 per sq ft. “The deal was done when Malik was a minister in the previous Congress-NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) government,” Fadnavis alleged. “Malik did business with those involved in the blasts that shook Mumbai. He bought land from the convicts in the case at rates cheaper than the market prices. Was the deal done to save the prime land from being confiscated under TADA? “
TADA, or the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987, had a provision for confiscation of properties of those convicted. The law was replaced by the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in 2002. In 2004, the central government strengthened the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 to combat terrorism.
Fadnavis said he would submit documents to a competent investigating agency as well as to NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Malik is an NCP leader. “There is a direct link with the underworld. I have documents of five property deals. Four of the properties purchased are linked to the underworld. I will find out who is the appropriate authority—police, ED or NIA—and hand it over to them.” ..”
Malik denied Fadnavis’s allegations. He said that he bought the property from Salim Patel as he had a power of attorney for the original land owner. “I don’t know whether he was the frontman for Haseena Parkar or not. We paid whatever the land owner asked for.”
Malik claimed that he is a tenant in the plot where he has six shops and a godown. There is also a housing society on that plot. He said that he paid money to Sardar Shavli Khan to return his claim in 300 meters of the said plot. “Everyone knows that he was a convict in the bomb blast case. His father was a security guard in this property. I gave him money to surrender my claim on the property.”
Malik also said that there is also a slum in the plot. “On paper, it is a three-acre plot but there is a slum and a housing society situated there.” He claimed that he would reveal the ‘underworld connections’ of Fadnavis on November 10.