The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides, officials said.
The 62-year-old NCP leader was taken into custody after he was questioned for about five hours at the ED office in south Mumbai's Ballard Estate area since around 8 AM.
His statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was arrested under the same provisions as he was evasive in his replies, the officials said.
Meanwhile, Malik was produced for remand before Special Judge Rahul Rokade in the Mumbai Sessions Court. The Centre's seniormost law officer in the State - ASG Anil Singh - is representing the ED. And senior Adv Amit Desai is appearing for Malik. He is being assisted by Adv Taraq Sayed.
Know more about Amit Desai:
Amit Desai is a leading senior criminal lawyer with nearly four deades of experience. His notable cases include 2G telecom, Bhopal gas tragedy, Bofurs corruption case, Cyrus Mistry saga, etc.
Desai had represented Salman Khan in 2002 hit-and-run case. He had represented Salman Khan for his bail hearing in 2015. The advocate had challenged a lower court’s order sentencing Salman to five years of rigorous imprisonment in the case. After Desai defended Salman in May 2015, the actor was granted bail in the case on a sum of Rs 30,000.
He was also hired by Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan to represent his son Aryan Khan in the Mumbai cruise drugs case.
