After a court here remanded Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik in the ED custody following his arrest in a money-laundering probe on Wednesday, he was brought to the central agency’s office in south Mumbai, where he will have to spend the night, an official said.
A special court remanded the state Minority Affairs Minister to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till March 3 in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
Malik, 62, was arrested earlier in the day after being questioned for about five hours at the ED office in south Mumbai’s Ballard Estate area since around 8 am.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, the officials said.He was produced before special Judge R N Rokade, who remanded him in the ED custody for further probe into the matter.Malik, clad in a white kurta, told the court the ED officials came to his house in the morning and took him to their office.“In the office, they (ED) made me sign a document which they later said was the summons,” the minister told the court.”After the court hearing, Malik was brought to the ED office in Ballard Estate around 9 pm. The minister will have to spent this night at the ED office,” the official said. The senior NCP leader was brought to the central agency’s office amid tight security of the CRPF personnel, he said. While getting down from the vehicle at night, Malik once again waved at media persons, just like he had done in the afternoon after stepping out of the ED office after his questioning.
His party said he was taken by the ED from his residence at around 6 am.Malik’s office said in a Twitter post the ED officials came to his residence here in the morning and accompanied him in his vehicle to the probe agency’s office, and asserted that he “won’t be afraid and won’t bow down”.
