Nawab Malik claims Fadnavis appointed 'criminals' to govt posts; ex-CM quotes Shaw while BJP defends him

Mumbai, November 10

Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Wednesday accused former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of sweeping under the carpet a case of seized fake notes and appointing people with criminal background to government boards.

While Fadnavis responded with George Bernard Shaw’s famous quote about the advisability of ‘not wrestling with a pig’, BJP leader Ashish Shelar said the people whom he appointed had been absolved in inquiry.

Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis took to Twitter to take swipes at Malik, referring to him as “Bigade Nawab” and claiming that his sole aim was to save his “black wealth” and “son-in-law”.

Malik, after targeting Fadnavis at a press conference, said there were “more bombs to be dropped” and he will make more revelations against the BJP.

Soon after Malik’s press conference, Fadnavis posted a tweet quoting playwright George Bernard Shaw. “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it!” it read.

On Tuesday, Malik had said he would drop a “hydrogen bomb” and reveal Fadnavis’ alleged underworld links, while the latter alleged that there was a dubious land deal involving the NCP leader, his family members and two convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The minister had refuted the allegations.

On Wednesday, Malik said while fake notes were seized in other states after demonetisation in 2016, there was not a single such instance in Maharashtra, where Fadnavis was the chief minister.

On October 8, 2017, the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized fake notes worth Rs 14.56 crore from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, he said.

“But Fadnavis helped sweep the case under the carpet. The seized amount was later shown with a value of Rs 8.8 lakh,” Malik alleged, questioning why the case was not handed over to the National Investigation Agency.

“Incidentally, Sameer Wankhede (the Narcotics Control Bureau officer against whom Malik has levelled several allegations) was the DRI’s joint director at that time,” he added.

The NCP leader further said that Imran Alam Sheikh was arrested in the case, and later his brother Haji Arafat Sheikh was made chairman of the state minority commission.

Fadnavis appointed people with criminal background to several state boards, he said, claiming that Munna Yadav from Nagpur was made chairman of the Maharashtra Construction Workers Welfare Board even though criminal cases like murder were registered against him.

Fadnavis also sheltered an individual whose second wife was a Bangladeshi and when the Malad police tried to investigate the case, they were pressured,  he alleged.

Malik and Fadnavis have been targeting each other with charges of underworld links. Both have denied any links with the underworld.

Malik had last week sought to link the BJP leader with an alleged narcotics dealer by tweeting the latter’s photograph with the former chief minister and his wife.

While Fadnavis himself did not reply to Malik’s allegations on Wednesday, BJP leader and former state minister Ashish Shelar defended the appointments questioned by Malik.

“It is true that Haji Arafat, Haji Haider and Munna Yadav were appointed to some government boards...Haji Arafat and Haji Haider’s appointments were cleared after the inquiry reports against them came out clean,” he said.

As to the allegation against Munna Yadav, he himself will clarify, Shelar added.

Shelar also asked why the present government had not taken any action against these leaders if they were involved in wrongdoing.

“Malik is tarnishing the image of all the budding minority leaders in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra,” the BJP leader claimed.

Amruta Fadnavis, meanwhile, tweeted in verse in Hindi, referring to “Bigade Nawab” (spoilt prince), an apparent swipe at Nawab Malik.

“He held press conference after press conference but only spoke lies, and his sole objective is to save his “black wealth” and “son-in-law”, she said.

Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan was recently granted bail by a court  here citing lack of evidence, months after the NCB arrested him in an alleged drugs case. PTI