A day after promising to explode a hydrogen bomb, Maharashtra minority affairs minister Nawab Malik accused opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis of protecting a fake currency racket, appointing criminals to the political offices during his tenure as the chief minister, and reiterated that the leader has links with underworld don’s aide. The allegations came in response to Fadnavis’s accusation that Malik had bought land from a frontman of Dawood’s sister Haseena Parkar and 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict to save the property from being confiscated by the government. The ex-CM said he had information about four other properties that would further establish Malik’s “links” with the underworld.

On Wednesday, Malik said a fugitive, Riyaz Bhati, who was caught twice in a fake passport case and accused of having links with Dawood Ibrahim, was seen dining with Fadnavis and in a photograph with PM Narendra Modi during a high-security function in Maharashtra. “Bhati was released in two days despite having multiple passports in his possession. How can a criminal get access to the PM’s function?” he asked, adding that some international dons had influenced the police officers.