Nawab Malik's questioning by ED: NCP calls it pressure tactic to silence him

The NCP on Wednesday claimed Maharashtra minister Nawab Maliks questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case was another instance of misuse of power and a pressure tactic to silence his voice since he had exposed wrongdoings of some people in the recent pastThe BJP however said the ED should be allowed to complete its inquiry into the case instead of dubbing the action as vendetta politicsThe ED on Wednesday questioned state Minority Affairs Minister and NCPs chief spokesperson Malik in a money laundering probe linked to the activities of the Mumbai underworld fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides officials saidThe 62yearold NCP leader is stated to have arrived at the EDs office in south Mumbais Ballard Estate area around 8 am and the agency is recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA they addedNCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto alleged that the action against Malik was nothing but iquestpressure tacticsiquest to silence his voice He was exposing the wrongdoings of some people as a Chief Spokesperson of a political party Voices of truth cannot be silenced Crasto tweetedTalking to reporters in Solapur Maharashtra NCP president and state minister Jayant Patil said this was another instance of misuse of powerThe ED reached his Maliks residence at 6 am without issuing any notice The ED had brought with it its own police Some people may be deliberately trying to trouble him The ED taking away a state minister for probe without any prior information is violation of everything he claimedPatil said he was not aware in which connection Malik is being probed and that it seemed anger is being deliberately expressed at the ministerHowever senior BJP leader and former state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters that it is too early to call the EDs inquiry as vendetta politics when the details of the action are not yet outWhat should we call the way Union minister Narayan Rane was arrested a few months back BJP MLA Nitesh Rane is also being hounded by the state authorities Malik is not a statelevel leader of the NCP If he has done something suspicious then it should be probed There should not be any rush to stamp it as vendetta politics Mungantiwar saidMaharashtra BJP vice president Chitra Wagh said a few months back serious allegations were levelled by former state CM Devendra Fadnavis against Malik in connection with a suspicious land dealIt should be probed thoroughly and the ED officials should be allowed to complete their investigation she saidThe EDs move against Malik comes after registration of a new case and raids conducted by it on February 15 in Mumbai in connection with the operations of the underworld linked alleged illegal property deals and hawala transactionsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever