West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spoke to NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Wednesday and extended support over the arrest of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik in a money laundering case. According to reports, Pawar asked Banerjee about how she had handled the Narada case in which a few Trinamool Congress ministers had been arrested.
Malik, a senior NCP leader and State Minority Affairs Minister, was arrested after being questioned for several hours by the ED in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. According to reports, the agency has sought 14-day custody of the minister.
Banerjee, who has been at the forefront of the efforts to form an anti-BJP alliance, has been critical against the Centre over various issues and had on multiple occasions accused the Centre of misusing the probe agencies to target its political opponents.
The NCP termed the ED action against Malik as a “pressure tactics” to silence his voice since he was exposing the wrongdoing of some people.
Pawar alleged that the central government was taking names of the underworld only to defame and trouble people. "Which case have they dug up? It is simple. They take the name of Dawood, especially if there is a Muslim activist (against whom a case is dug up)…There is no relation (between the activist concerned and underworld), but it is done,” he said.
On Wednesday evening, Pawar called an emergency meeting of the party leaders to discuss Malik’s arrest and the future course of action.
NCP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, while condemning the ED action, said the party would move court against the arrest.
