Nawab Malik And Kin Had Bought Land At Cheaper Rates In Mumbai From Two Convicts Of 1993 Blasts Case: Fadnavis

Mumbai, Nov 9 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday alleged that a company of state minister Nawab Malik and his family members had purchased land in suburban Kurla at a very cheap rate through fictitious documents from two convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Addressing a press conference, Fadnavis claimed that one of the two convicts, Saleem Ishaq Patel, was working as frontman of Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar in Mumbai.

He also alleged that Malik and his family members entered into land deals with people associated with the Underworld.

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.

The former CM had then said he will make revelations about Malik's “underworld links” after Diwali and also share the 'documents and proofs' of the same with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar.

“Nawab Malik and his family members were part of a company which purchased land in Kurla (area of Mumbai) at a very low rate by making some fictitious documents. There are four such land purchase deals where I can firmly say that Malik has entered into land deals with the underworld.' He claimed the land was purchased from Sardar Shahwali Khan and Saleem Ishaq Patel who were convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

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

As many as 257 people were killed and about 1,400 injured when serial blasts ripped through Mumbai on March 12, 1993. “Another question arises that why did these two accused persons sell their land to Malik? They were about to get convicted under then TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act). 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?” he asked.

The LoP claimed Nawab Malik's son Faraz Malik had signed the agreement documents of the Kurla land deal with Khan and Patel.

“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 Khan, son of Nawab Malik,” Fadnavis claimed.

What additional explanation does one need when Malik buys land from people having underworld connections and that too at lower than market rates, the former chief minister asked. Fadnavis claimed the original value of the entire plot in Kurla, admeasuring around three acres (2.80 acre), was estimated to be Rs 3 crore.

'However, a company controlled by Malik's family purchased this land for merely Rs 20 lakh. The property deal began in 2003 and was completed by 2007. Just before the deal, Nawab Malik had stepped down as a minister after a report authored by retired judge P B Sawant passed severe strictures against him. However, the question remains that how come Malik was not aware of Saleem Patel and his alleged underworld connections,” Fadnavis asked.

Queried about his future course of action, Fadnavis said he would submit the documents to 'appropriate authorities' like the CBI, ED or NIA.

Fadnavis also said he was thinking of handing the documents in his possession to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

“I did not have this information earlier (during chief ministerial tenure). Had I found it, I would have exposed him (Nawab Malik) earlier,' he claimed.

Malik has been levelling a string of allegations against Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede after he led a raid on a cruise ship and claimed to have seized drugs, following which actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and some others were arrested.

Malik had termed the raid 'fake' and raised many allegations against Wankhede.

He had also alleged that a (former) BJP functionary was the mastermind of the cruise drugs case.

The NCP leader's son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested by the NCB earlier this year in an alleged drugs case. He was later granted bail by a court.

On November 1, Devendra Fadnavis had said Malik's attack on the NCB was an attempt to put pressure on officials of the anti-drugs agency so that the case against his son-in-law is weakened. PTI ND GK NSK NSK NSK