Maharashtra BJP MLA Nitesh Rane has slammed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government after a case was registered on Sunday 13th March 2022 against him and his brother Nilesh Rane for making a sensational statement that they suspect Sharad Pawar to be Dawood Ibrahim’s man. The Marine Drive police registered a case late on Saturday night against the two Rane brothers after BJP leader Nilesh Rane had made a statement against NCP president Sharad Pawar and his brother and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane had also made similar statements.
The case was registered against the Rane brothers on the basis of a complaint lodged by NCP leader Suraj Chavan at Azad Maidan police station for linking Sharad Pawar with Dawood Ibrahim.
After the case was registered, Nitesh Rane said, “A case has been filed against me & my brother over the statement I made. If MVA & Pawar Ji, have so much love for Dawood Ibrahim, then they should remove Gandhi Ji’s photo from their cabin & put up Dawood’s photo. Cases are being filed against us as we exposed MVA government.”
A case has been filed against me & my brother over the statement I made. If MVA & Pawar Ji,have so much love for Dawood Ibrahim,then they should remove Gandhi ji’s photo from their cabin & put up Dawood’s photo. Cases being filed against us as we exposed MVA govt: Nitesh Rane,BJP pic.twitter.com/1bDqxeUfXR
— ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2022
Politics in the state has been heating up following the ED’s action against NCP spokesperson and minister Nawab Malik in a money laundering case. The BJP has been demanding the resignation of Nawab Malik while the Maha Vikas Aghadi is saying that Malik will not resign.
What had Nitesh Rane said
Nilesh Rane had directly linked Sharad Pawar to the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. In a statement, he had said, “I suspect that It is Sharad Pawar who is Dawood’s man in Maharashtra. There’s really suspicion. The person who has transacted and given money to Dawood’s sister and Dawood’s men and has given money to the men who bombed. What did Anil Deshmukh do? How quickly he had resigned? Was there any second thought in his case? So who is Nawab Malik? The one who has dealt with Dawood. Is there a fear that if Nawab Malik speaks the truth, the information about Sharad Pawar will come out? Is there such a thing?”
The Nawab Malik’s case
Nawab Malik has been sent to Arthur Road jail. He will remain in the custody there till 21st March 2022. In February 2022, ED had conducted raids in South Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. Close to nine places in Mumbai and one in Thane were raided by the ED including the residences of Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar and brother Iqbal Kaskar. The agency also took into custody Iqbal Kaskar who is imprisoned in Thane in an extortion case and presented him before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court.
Nawab Malik’s name appeared in the process of investigation after the intelligence inputs directed the agency to look into the hawala transaction while probing a money laundering case against Ibrahim, Iqbal Mirchi, Chhota Shakeel, Parkar, and Javed Chikna. The agency traced several hawala transactions linked to money illegally obtained through extortion, drug trafficking, sale of real estate in Nagpada and Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai, and other unlawful activities.
