A special court in Mumbai on Thursday extended the ED custody of NCP leader and Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik till March 7 in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
Malik was arrested on February 23 after being questioned for about five hours at the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) office in south Mumbai. He was produced before special court judge RN Rokade at the end of his initial remand on Thursday. The court extended his custody till March 7 for further probe into the case.
Considering the fact that the accused was in hospital from February 25 to 28 (during his previous ED custody) and also new facts have emerged during investigation, the accused is being sent to further custody, the court said.
Malik has stated that he was forcibly picked up from his residence by the ED officials on February 23, without any notice or summons under section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code. He has also argued that the special court designated to hear the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases was without jurisdiction.
The ED's case is that Malik, in connivance with Dawood Ibrahim's aides - Haseena Parker, Salim Patel and Sardar Khan - hatched a criminal conspiracy for usurping the ancestral property of one Munira Plumber at Kurla in Mumbai, which is valued at around Rs 300 crore. Thus, it is the proceeds of crime, the federal anti-money laundering agency had claimed.
The probe agency's case is based on an FIR filed recently by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Dawood Ibrahim and others. The NIA had filed its criminal complaint under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
READ MORE: More trouble for Nawab Malik, ED unearths Rs 200 crore plot in Mumbai linked his family
Latest India News
