MUMBAI: Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis alleged on Tuesday that a company belonging to NCP minister Nawab Malik’s family had bought 2.8 acres of land in Kurla at throwaway prices from a 1993 blasts case convict Sardar Shahawali Khan and Mohammed Salim Ishaq Patel alias Salim Patel, an alleged frontman of gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar.
Malik, refuting allegations, said the land transition was legal and there were no irregularities.
Fadnavis alleged the land was bought by Solidus Investments, in which Malik’s son Faraz is director, “for just Rs 30 lakh and Rs 20 lakh were paid. They bought the land for Rs 15 per sq ft, while market rate is Rs 8,500 per sq m and Rs 2,000 per sq ft, which means the land is worth Rs 3 crore,” he said.
Fadnavis said the land belonged to the Goawala family in Kurla, and Salim Patel, “ driver, bodyguard and frontman of Haseena Parkar,” had irrevocable power of attorney for it. “The land was bought from Patel and from Shahawali Khan, a convict in the 1993 blasts case who is in jail serving a life term. Khan was part of the conspiracy and did the recce for planting bombs at BSE and BMC building. He had undergone arms training and was part of the group that filled RDX in vehicles at Tiger Memon’s building in Mahim. Malik’s son Faraz signed registration papers,” Fadnavis alleged. Fadnavis said the transaction began in 2003 and was completed in 2005. “Khan was convicted under TADA, where all property belonging to such convicts can be seized by government. So Malik’s family bought the land from Khan and Patel to protect it. They must answer if there was black money involved or if there were other reasons. Why did they buy land from a terror convict and those with underworld links? I will send all documents to the appropriate agencies and to NCP chief Sharad Pawar,” he said.
He alleged Malik’s family bought 4 more properties from those with gangland links. “Nawab Malik himself was director in Solidus Investments for a short duration. This means he has business relations with the underworld,” he said.
Malik, in his reply, said he would “detonate a hydrogen bomb on Wednesday” on “Fadnavis’s underworld links.” He claimed, “Fadnavis has made a mountain out of a molehill. He said he will hand over documents to investigating agencies. We are ready to go face any probe. Fadnavis gave information about Salim Patel and Sardar Khan. Khan’s house is still in Goawala compound. For 70 years, Khan’s father has been working as watchman for the Goawala family. When we took the property from the Goawala family, Khan claimed ownership of a 300-m patch. We bought only a 300 sq m plot from him. We did not buy under pressure or from an accused.”
Malik added, “We were tenants on the property. When the landlord asked us to buy the land, the watchman (Khan) put his name on the land, so we paid for it legally. I don’t know Haseena Parkar, we have no link with gangsters. I have no idea if Salim Patel is absconding or is a goon.”
Malik said his daughter would send a legal notice to Fadnavis for alleging cannabis was found on his son-in-law.
