Mumbai, Feb 23: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik in a money-laundering case probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, his aides and the Mumbai underworld, officials said.
The 62-year-old NCP leader was taken into custody shortly before 3 PM after he was questioned for about six hours at the ED office in south Mumbai’s Ballard Estate area. He was brought there by the agency at around 8 AM.
Malik raised a clenched fist, smiled and waved towards the waiting media personnel before he was taken away for a medical checkup by agency officials in a vehicle escorted by CRPF personnel and local police. He told the media from inside the vehicle: “We will fight and we will win. Will expose all.”
Officials said his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was arrested under the same provisions as he was “evasive” in his replies.
He will be produced in a court in Mumbai where the agency is expected to seek his custody for at least seven days.