Fadnavis says Nawab Malik made land deal with ‘underworld’, NCP leader hits back

NCP leader Nawab Malik, who has made a raft of allegations over the past month, dismissed Fadnavis’s claims as “baseless” and vowed a “hydrogen bomb” of a revelation about the former Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday.

In a fresh bout between the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra,leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis held a press conference on Tuesday alleging that state minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik and his family bought land parcels from people linked with the underworld.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday alleged that NCP leader Nawab Malik and his family entered into land deals with those associated with the underworld. (HT Photo)

Hours later, Malik held a press conference in which he said that he would drop a “hydrogen bomb” on Wednesday and expose the “underworld links” of Fadnavis. Malik refuted the latter’s allegations and said that he has not bought any property from anyone linked to the underworld or who is a convict in a bomb blast case.

Fadnavis on Tuesday alleged that Malik and his family members had purchased land in suburban Kurla from two persons — Saleem Ishaq Patel and Sardar Shah Wali Khan — using fictitious documents and by paying far less than the actual property rate.

Fadnavis claimed the original value of the entire plot in Kurla, measuring around 2.80 acres was estimated to be ₹3 crore. “However, a company controlled by Malik’s family purchased this land for merely ₹20 lakh. The property deal began in 2003 and was completed by 2007,” Fadnavis said. The BJP leader further said that Malik’s son, Faraz signed the agreement documents which were in the name of Solidus Investment Pvt Ltd.

“Saleem Ishaq Patel was working as the driver as well as the frontman of Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar in Mumbai. He was also given the power of attorney of several properties purchased by Parkar. In the suspicious Kurla land deal, Patel had the power of attorney of the land and he signed the sale agreement which was purchased by Faraz Malik, son of Nawab Malik,” Fadnavis, the former CM of Maharshtra, said.

Patel was arrested in 2007 with Parkar in a land grabbing and fraud case. Khan is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1993 bomb blasts masterminded by Ibrahim. The serial blasts, which ripped through Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killed 257 people and injured over 1,400. Ninety nine persons were convicted for the blasts under various sections of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA).

“Why did you do business with the killers of Mumbaikars?” the BJP leader asked.

Malik however accused Fadnavis of maligning his image by making “a mountain out of a molehill”. He said that all property deals and documents were “in accordance with the law.”

Malik clarified that they had purchased the plot of land — Goawala compound in Kurla — which was owned by a certain Munira Plumber who had given the power of attorney to Patel. Malik denied having any knowledge of Patel’s antecedents. He further clarified that a certain portion of the compound (300m) was in the name of Sardar Shah Wali Khan, whose father was a watchman in the compound. Malik said they paid Khan to surrender his right to that plot.

“Maybe Devendra ji’s informants did not tell him that Sardar Shah Wali Khan still has a house in the Goawala compound. His father worked there as a watchman. He managed to put his name on the property card of the said land. When we purchased the plot, Sardar Shah Wali Khan had a 300-metre plot in his name. We paid him to surrender his right. Your allegations are baseless,” Malik said.

“Devendra Fadnavis is trying to malign my image by connecting me to a blast convict and the underworld. I don’t know Haseena Parkar. Salim Patel had the power of attorney of the family. I did not know Patel was connected to the underworld,” he said.

“In my years in Mumbai, there have been no allegations that I had any connection or relation with the underworld. You can go to any agency, we are not scared. Devendra ji, you are mistaken to think that you can create a web of lies to malign my image,” the minister said.

Responding to a query on why he didn’t reveal these land deals when he was chief minister of Maharashtra (from 2014 o 2019), the BJP leader said he would have exposed Malik had he found this information earlier. Fadnavis’ remarks came days after Malik sought to link the BJP with an alleged narcotics dealer by tweeting the latter’s photograph with the former chief minister and his wife Amruta Fadnavis.

“Another question arises that why did these two accused persons sell their land to Malik? As per that legal provision, all the properties of convicts get attached and come under government control. Did Malik help them to avoid such land on prime location from getting attached?” Fadnavis asked.

BJP leader Ashish Shelar requested Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to take cognisance of the issue and file an FIR to inquire into all the dealings. “We demand that the chief minister must file an FIR against his cabinet colleague and investigate all the deals. The minister has accepted all the allegations we made. The entire wrongdoing by the minister must be exposed,” Shelar said in a press conference.

His party colleague Prasad Lad said that Thackeray should sack Malik from the cabinet.

Wankhedes meet Koshiyari

The NCP leader has made a raft of allegations against a drug raid on Cordelia, a cruise ship, on October 2 in which 20 persons, including Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan, were arrested. Malik has claimed that the raid, led by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede was an attempt to kidnap Aryan and extort ransom.

Wankhede’s wife Kranti Redkar and father Dnyandev Wankhede on Tuesday met Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and submitted a complaint against state minister Nawab Malik. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Redkar, a former actor, said, “I met governor Koshyari with my father-in-law Dnyandev Wankhede and sister-in-law Yasmeen Wankhede. “We submitted a complaint about minister Nawab Malik’s constant attacks on us,” she said. They were “humble people” but “family reputation is at stake due to constant attacks,” she added.

(With inputs from PTI)