Malik, Dawood’s sister & ’93 blast convict met several times over Kurla property: ED

Special Judge R N Rokade issued process against Malik and Khan, lodged in Arthur Road jail and Aurangabad prison respectively, observing that there are “sufficient grounds” for proceeding in the case. “There is prima facie evidence to indicate that the accused is directly and knowingly involved in money-laundering offence,” the court said, adding that the property in question allegedly usurped by Malik in connivance with Parkar is proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The chargesheet includes statements of 17 witnesses, including Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar, and Parkar’s son Alishah Parkar, who has referred to transactions between his mother and Dawood till her death in 2014 and the sale of the property to Malik.

The ED had arrested Malik in February claiming that he had entered into a land deal of the Goawala compound with Parkar through her associate Salim Patel. The property was allegedly usurped from the original owners and sold to a company connected to Malik, the ED alleges.

The agency has claimed in its chargesheet that Parkar was a member of Dawood’s gang, D-company, which was involved in “unauthorised possession/acquisition of key assets for raising terror funds”, including the Goawala compound. The ED claims that Malik, in connivance with the gang members, “hatched a criminal conspiracy” to usurp the property.

During its probe, the ED had recorded the statement of Khan, who is serving life imprisonment for the 1993 serial blasts, in December. The ED claims that Khan has said in his statement that Patel was a close associate of Parkar and took every decision regarding the Kurla property on her instructions. It has referred to Khan’s statement claiming that several rounds of meetings were held with regard to the property, where an agreement was reached between Malik and Parkar, where he had agreed to pay Rs 55 lakh to her, Rs 15 lakh to Patel, and Rs 5 lakh to Khan. Patel and Parkar have both died since.

The ED has said that it has included Khan’s statement in its chargesheet as being a part of the meetings. The ED claims that the four had “criminally conspired” and taken unauthorised possession of the property from its owner Munira Plumber by misguiding her and forging a power of attorney in favour of Patel. Malik is alleged to have acquired control of the property from Patel by making the payments mentioned above, without any money being paid to Plumber, the ED alleges.

The ED has also included details in the chargesheet claiming that Malik had first occupied a tenanted property at the compound by using his clout.

Khan has claimed that Malik was trying to get control over a tenanted property in the compound being used as a godown, owned by one Kanchwala. “In 1992, there was a flood in Kurla and none could approach the godown. Mr Nawab Malik and his brother Aslam Malik took advantage of the situation and occupied this property illegally as Mr Nawab Malik was muscleman of the locality, Kanchwala could not do anything; later on, this tenancy was regularised in the name of Mr Aslam Malik,” the ED chargesheet claims.

Malik’s lawyers had denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he himself was a victim since a person who did not possess title to the property had sold it to him. During arguments in the court, Malik’s lawyers had also raised an issue with the ED’s reliance on Khan’s statement, who himself is a convict in a case.