Drugs case: Nawab Malik to address press conference today

In a cryptic tweet on November 3, the NCP leader said he would, on Sunday, reveal ‘secrets’ hidden inside hotel The Lalit.

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik will address a press conference on Sunday, four days after teasing yet another expose in the ongoing drugs controversy in the state. “I will address a live press conference tomorrow, Sunday 7th November 2021, at 10am. Venue-Noor Manzil, LBS Marg, Kurla, Mumbai,” the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said in a tweet on Saturday.

Nawab Malik (File Photo)

In an earlier tweet, attacking Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who was leading the probe into the drugs-on-cruise case, for which, several people, including actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan, were arrested and later given bail, the minister posted, “A member of Sameer Dawood Wankhede's private army just held a press conference to misguide and divert from the truth, albeit unsuccessfully. I will reveal the truth tomorrow.”

Separately, another BJP leader, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, too, had earlier announced he would give evidence after Diwali of what he said were Malik's connections with the underworld. This came after the 62-year-old Uttar Pradesh born politician accused Fadnavis of shielding drug peddlers and holding ‘high-end’ parties at a five-star Mumbai hotel during his term as the CM.

Malik, who is Maharashtra's minority affairs minister, has emerged as a key figure in the controversy, levelling series of charges against NCB officer Wankhede. The federal agency, on Friday, transferred six cases, including the Aryan Khan case, from its Mumbai zonal unit to a special investigation team (SIT) of its operations branch in Delhi.