Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday alleged that the arrest of Nawab Malik, the Minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, in connection with Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case is "politically motivated".
The NCP chief further alleged that the BJP links any of his party workers belonging to the "Muslim" community with Dawood.
Notably, Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the money laundering case.
"Nawab Malik's arrest is politically motivated, he is being linked with Dawood just because he's a Muslim," Pawar said while addressing a press conference here.
Asked about BJP's persistent demand for the Minister's resignation over the matter, the NCP chief hit out at the Opposition party in the state and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should explain why his Minister Narayan Rane did not tender resignation when he was arrested.
"PM Modi should explain why Narayan Rane didn't resign when he was arrested but BJP keeps asking for Nawab Malik's resignation," he said.
Notably, Rane had accused Thackeray of ignorance about the year of India's independence at an event and said "I would have given (him) a tight slap."
Meanwhile, the special PMLA court on Thursday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Nawab Malik till March 7 in connection with the Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case.
Earlier in February, the ED conducted raids at the residence of Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar in Mumbai in connection with the money laundering case.
Searches were carried out by the ED at several places linked to people associated with the underworld in Mumbai, informed sources said.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the resignation of the Malik but the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA-- comprising Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP) government has rejected the demand.
( With inputs from ANI )
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