Guwahati: Soon after Nawab Malik was arrested in connection with a money laundering case involving Dawood Ibrahim, the Enforcement Directorate revealed that the minister had allegedly purchased a Rs 300 crore plot for a few lakhs from Munira Plumber, a D-gang victim, through a company called Solidus Investments Pvt. Ltd.
This company was owned by Nawab Malik “with the active connivance of members of the D-Gang, notably Haseena Parkar,” according to Nawab Malik’s relatives.
Munira Plumber claimed ownership of the nearly three-acre site known as Goawala Compound in Mumbai’s Kurla in her statement to the ED.
She claimed that she was unaware that the house had been transferred to a third party by Mr Salim Patel, a member of Dawood’s gang, because she had not signed the tenancy transfer to ownership agreement dated July 18, 2003.
She further alleged, “In fact, it was she who paid Salim Patel Rs 5 lakhs to remove all encroachments from miscreant persons who had inhabited illegally, to clear all problems, and to annul illegitimate titles of tenants. She has never given Mr Salim Patel permission to sell the home.”
According to information obtained by India Today, Munira said in her statement that Salim Patel illegally sold the property and passed it over to a third party.
Munira informed officials that she learned that Salim Patel was connected to the underworld, which is why she did not file a FIR or pursue the subject with rent payments, encroachment, and other issues because she feared a threat to her life and family.
According to the ED, Salim Patel fraudulently purchased the land by falsifying paperwork.
Munira also informed ED that she found out about the property’s sale in 2021 through media stories. Interestingly, Munira was also receiving letters from government officials, leading her to believe that she was the legitimate owner of the property.
The ED claimed that while reviewing the records, they came across one Sardar Shahwali Khan, who allegedly played a key part in the land sale. Sardar Shahwali Khan was convicted in the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blast Case and is currently serving a life sentence in the Aurangabad Jail under TADA and MCOCA.
Sardar Khan revealed that he was in contact with Haseena Parker (Dawood Ibrahim’s sister) and Tiger Memon through one Javed Chikna, Tiger Memon’s conduit, during his judicial custody statement to the ED.
Sardar Shah Wali Khan further stated that Salim Patel was a close friend of Haseena Aapa’s and worked as her bodyguard and driver; afterwards, he learned that Salim Patel made every choice about this property on Haseena Aapa’s orders. In actuality, Haseena Aapa was the sole owner of this land. There were numerous issues with this property, including illegal encroachments and late rent payments, among others. Other land-grabbing gangs were also interested in the property, the ED has alleged.
The ED officials also presented Khan with a complaint filed by his brother Rehman in the small Causes Court on January 10, 1995, accusing Nawab Malik of threatening Munira Plumber. Khan further told the ED that his brother Rehman was the Goawala Compound’s rent collector on behalf of Munira Plumber.
“Nawab Malik was attempting to gain access to a tenanted building in Goawala Compound called “Kurla General Store,” which was closed at the time. Nawab Malik threatened his brother Rehman Khan when he sought to stop it. Nawab Malik later occupied the property through his brother Aslam Malik, ED said.
Sardar Shah Wali Khan also alleged that both Nawab Mailk and Haseena Parkar were attempting to take the greater section of the property.
“Munira had got some threats and had become completely uninterested in the property, therefore both of them saw an opportunity to hold the land beneficially,” Khan allegedly told the ED.
Nawab Malik allegedly utilised a firm called Solidus Investments as a front to purchase the tenanted property, according to the financial investigation agency. Nawab Malik is the company’s owner.
According to the ED, many meetings between Nawab Malik, Aslam Malik, and Haseena Parkar were held to fix the situation. Sardar Khan claimed to have attended at least a handful of the meetings.
Haseena Parkar and Nawab Malik agreed that the leased property of Solidus Investments would be converted to ownership using the power of attorney issued to Salim Patel, and Haseena Parkar would own the remaining properties through Salim Patel.
The ED also said that Nawab Malik allegedly paid Haseen Parkar Rs 55 lakh in cash.