Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister, kept his promise of a post-Diwali "expose" on state Minister Nawab Malik today. He accused NCP minister Nawab Malik of making questionable real estate deals with two Bombay blast convicts.
In a press conference, the BJP leader reiterated his earlier claim that Mr Malik has underworld ties and presented what he calls "proof" of the link.
"I had stated that I would reveal something after Diwali. Getting papers took some time. I'm not narrating a script by Salim Javed... This isn't an interval of a movie either,"
said Mr Fadnavis.
He claimed that Nawab Malik purchased a prime property in Kurla by undervaluing the land through a company owned by his family, Solidus Investments Pvt Limited.
"The property was bought
at a good price from 1993 Bombay blast convicts Salim Patel and Sardar Shahab Ali Khan," he said. According to him, the deal was finalised between 2003 and 2005.
This plot was purchased for Rs. 30 lakh from underworld people. Mr Fadnavis claimed that only Rs. 20 lakh had been paid.
"You were a minister at the time this deal was made. My question is -did you know who Salim Patel is? Why did you purchase land from convicted criminals? And why did they sell a three-acre
plot on LBS road for Rs 30 lakh?" he added.
Salim Patel is the aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim and was Haseena Parkar's (Dawood's sister) driver. Haseena Parkar acquired the properties through Salim Patel after Dawood escaped.
The bombings in Mumbai in 1993 were masterminded by Dawood Ibrahim.
"This is an open link to the underworld. You're doing business with the people who brought the RDX, the people who plotted the bombings? All of this will be sent to the appropriate
authorities, as well as to Sharad Pawar so that he is aware of what his Minister has done," Mr Fadnavis stated.
The 1993 bombings were the first in a 15-year string of three major terrorist attacks, all of which targeted India's commercial capital. It was the first time Pakistan came dangerously
close to being labelled a terrorist sponsor.
Nawab Malik had previously claimed that Devendra Fadnavis had appeared in a music video bankrolled by a drug peddler currently serving time in prison. Mr Fadnavis' at the time labelled
the claim as "laughable."
Mr Malik, according to the BJP leader, was merely attempting to exert pressure on the Narcotics Control Bureau, or NCB, to have the anti-drugs agency weaken the charge sheet against his son-in-law.