NCP leader Nawab Malik, who was arrested by the ED on Wednesday, has been admitted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai.
NCP leader and Maharashtra's minority affairs minister Nawab Malik, who is currently under arrest and in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has been hospitalised as he complained of stomach pain.
Sources from the party said that Malik had been taken to JJ hospital by ED officials on Friday morning for a routine medical check-up when he complained of stomach pain.
Sources confirmed that as per the doctor's advice, Malik was then hospitalised at the JJ hospital.
A tweet from Nawab Malik's office handle said that he had been hospitalised for medical reasons.
Malik was, on Wednesday, arrested by the ED officials on charges of money laundering in the case registered against underworld don and fugitive Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
The ED officials on Wednesday reached Malik's residence in the morning and conducted a search operation at his residence. Following the search, Malik was served a notice and asked to accompany the officials at their office.
At around 2:45 PM on Wednesday, Malik was arrested as he was not cooperating in the probe. Malik was then produced in a special PMLA court that remanded him to ED custody till March 3.
Nawab Malik arrest: What do we know
Last week, raids were conducted at multiple locations across Mumbai, including the residence of Haseena Parkar -- sister of Dawood Ibrahim. Iqbal Kaskar, the fugitive's brother, was taken into custody last week while Haseena Parkar's son Alishah Parkar was questioned by the ED on Monday. Kaskar's close aides, booked in the extortion case, could be examined and their residences in Thane were also searched. One Salim Qureshi alias Salim Fruit, who is the brother-in-law of the Dawood gang's top operative, Chota Shakeel, is also under the scanner of the ED. He was questioned by the ED for nine hours and could be called again.
Recently, it came to light that Dawood Ibrahim's gang is still active in the country and running terror activities, trying to disrupt law and order. Dawood Ibrahim and his close confidante Chota Shakeel, along with his brother Anees Ibrahim, are running hawala operations, betting syndicates, and illegal real estate-related businesses in Mumbai and other areas, sources said. Extortion activities are also being carried out by the gang.
After the raids, it was alleged that a senior politician could be probed by the ED who had dealings in the past with people associated with Dawood Ibrahim's gang.
The ED raids were in connection with a recently registered case against Dawood Ibrahim by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and on that basis, the ED also registered an ECIR and started investigations. The NIA registered a case under UAPA against Dawood Ibrahim after learning that he had been spreading terror activities across India. NIA officials also mentioned that Dawood Ibrahim pumped money through hawala channels to finance those working for him to create unrest across India.
The NIA FIR states that D-Company, under Dawood Ibrahim, Ibrahim Kaskar and his aforementioned associates, has established a special unit for attacking eminent personalities in India. This includes political leaders, businessmen and others. The FIR states that gang is planning to use explosives, firearms and other lethal weapons and plans to instigate and trigger incidents that may lead to the onset of violence in various parts of India, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and other major cities in India.
The ED also has opened an investigation in the cases of extortion registered against Iqbal Kaskar and his aides by Thane police in 2017. Kaskar was deported in 2003 and since then he has been based in Mumbai. It is suspected that he has been running Dawood gang's operations in Mumbai and other areas on behalf of his brother, who is operating from Karachi in Pakistan and is working with Pakistani intelligence agencies and terrorist groups.
Nawab Malik's deal with an aide of Dawood Ibrahim, Sardar Shahvali Khan and Haseena Parkar's bodyguard Salim Patel, is under the ED scanner. Nawab Malik's son, through a company, had bought a prime land plot of around 2.8 acres for Rs 30 lakhs. Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis has alleged that property worth crores was bought at mere Rs 30 lakhs by Nawab Malik from Sardar Shahvali Khan and Salim Patel. The ED officials are also looking into some other business dealings of Nawab Malik and people close to him. Sources said that the agency was armed with primary evidence against Malik and he could face action against him.
According to sources, Alishah Parkar, son of Haseena Parkar, gave a statement to the ED on Monday that Nawab Malik had dealings with his mother regarding their properties. Based on this statement, the ED initiated action on Wednesday against Nawab Malik and then arrested him. Investigations revealed that Malik had paid Rs 55 lakh in cash and Rs 5 lakh in cheque to Haseena Parkar for the deal. The ED has alleged that by paying consideration to Haseena Parkar for an illegally occupied share in the plot, Malik was aiding the D Company financially. In lieu of the said acquisition of the property, Nawab Malik funded the terror network of Dawood Ibrahim through Haseena Parkar.
The special PMLA court remanded Nawab Malik to the ED's custody till March 3.
The BJP demanded the resignation of Nawab Malik. "There is a law, which states that a minister should be removed from his post if he is facing criminal charges. Malik should be removed or asked to step down from his post," Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said.
After his arrest, Nawab Malik said he won’t bow down. “Will fight and win. Won’t bow down,” Nawab Malik said in a tweet. His office also tweeted, “Main jhukega nahi! (won't bow down).”
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