‘Have evidence of Nawab Malik’s relations with Underworld’: Devendra Fadnavis in retort to NCP leader

BJP leader and former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on Monday claimed that NCP leader Nawab Malik has connections with the Underworld. Responding to Nawab Malik's charges that 'drug business' flourished during BJP-Shiv Sena tenure in Maharashtra, Fadnavis said that he will produce evidence establishing Malik's connection with the underworld.

"Those who have relations with the Underworld should not speak about me. I will present evidence of Nawab Malik’s relations with the Underworld. I am waiting for Diwali to pass," the former Maharashtra CM told reporters.

Fadnavis' remark came amid Malik’s unabated attack on the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) over the drugs-on-cruise case involving Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan.

Earlier in the morning, Malik alleged that one Jaideep Rana, who is currently in jail in connection with a drug trafficking case, has ties with Fadnavis. Malik also said that the former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis was behind the transfer of Sameer Wankhede to the NCB.

“One Jaideep Rana currently in jail in connection with a drug trafficking case has relations with former CM Devendra Fadnavis. He was the financial head of the famous River song by former CM’s wife Amruta Fadnavis. Drugs business in the state grew under his tenure,” he told reporters in Mumbai.

For the past several days, Malik has been targeting Wankhede, who had led a raid on a cruise ship in Mumbai earlier this month during which drugs were recovered. The minister has repeatedly claimed that the entire operation on the cruise ship on October 2, during which actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was held among others, was "fake". Wankhede had earlier refuted the minister's allegations against him.