Mumbai: The slugfest between Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik and BJO leader Devendra Fadnavis continues. On Tuesday, Nawab Malik refuted allegations by Fadnavis that he had struck a property deal with people linked to the Mumbai underworld and those convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Malik hit back at Fadnavis stating that he would hold a press conference on Thursday to expose Fadanvis’s links with the underworld.
“I will drop a hydrogen bomb tomorrow in connection with Devendra Fadnavis. I will expose Devendra Fadnavis’s underworld links,” Mr Malik said at his press conference. “Devendra Fadnavis is trying to malign my image by connecting me to blast convicts and the underworld. They did the same by saying that drugs were recovered from my place… I will sent him a legal notice,” he added.
“It has been said that we purchased 1.5 lakh sq ft of land for peanuts and created fake tenancies. This is a fallacious claim,” Malik said.
Malik claimed that the land was owned by one Munira Patel from whom his family had leased land for a godown through their company Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd.
“Patel approached us and told us that she wanted to sell us the land on which our godown that we had leased existed. We took ownership of the land and got the registration done through one Salim Patel who had the power of attorney,” Malik was quoted as saying in media reports.
Fadnavis had alleged that Mohd Salim Ishaq Patel was the frontman of Haseena Parkar, Dawood Ibrahim’s sister.
“We purchased the land from the original owner and paid mandated registration fees. Fadnavis spoke about the Mumbai bomb blast and referred to one Sardar Shahwali Khan. Khan’s father was a watchman of this compound and the family had managed to get their names on the property records staking a claim on 300 meters of land. When we came to know about it we paid them money to surrender their rights that they had created on this land,” said Malik. He added that he was ready to face a probe.
Malik further alleged that Fadnavis has made a mountain out of a molehill and that he can go to any agency he wants. He claimed to have all the legal documents and said he was ready to face any agency. He categorically denied that property was purchased from anyone who had underworld links.
“Fadnavis has raked up the issue of the underworld. I will now reveal his links and how he held the entire Mumbai city hostage by using the underworld. I am going to drop a hydrogen bomb on Thursday,” Indian Express reported.
