Maha: BJP, opposition trade barbs in council over Dawood 'relative' link claim

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday rejected Nationalist Congress Party MLC Eknath Khadses allegations that a Bharatiya Janata Party minister had attended a wedding in 201718 hosted by a family related to fugitive underworld don Dawood IbrahimFadnavis while demanding Khadses apology to the legislative council for making a ldquobaseless claimrdquo said perhaps the allegation was raised because Uddhav Thackeray is present in the HouseKhadse who belongs to the Sharad Pawar camp of NCP showed photos of the cabinet minister attending a wedding and alleged that the family is related to Dawood Ibrahim the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case newswire PTI reportedCouncil chairperson Neelam Gorhe directed that the name of the minister be removed from the proceeding She also rejected the oppositions demand for a discussionFadnavis also the Home Minister said The concerned minister and many other political leaders and government officers had attended the wedding of a nephew of a renowned Muslim priest in Nashik city known as ShahereKhatibAn allegation was made that one of the daughters in the family of the inlaws of the brides father has been married to one of the brothers of Dawood Ibrahim There is no case against any one of them In 201718 the investigation team has clearly stated that ShahereKhatib has nothing to do with Dawood he saidTargeting Shiv SenaUBT he said Why such rigorous attempts were not made when Saleem Kutta was with Sudhakar Badgujar I reject these allegations There is no such connection Dawood link He Khadse should apologise to the HouseBadgujar who heads the Nashik city unit of Shiv SenaUBT is facing an investigation after BJP MLA Nitesh Rane displayed a photo in the state assembly last week claiming Badgujar had danced with Dawood Ibrahims aide Salim Kutta at a partyAlso read Sharad Pawar hits back at age jibe Not old can still straighten some people outEarlier in the day Shiv Sena Shinde faction legislators raised slogans against Shiv Sena UBT saying Salim Kutta is the new leader of UBTEverybody knows who is the godfather of Sudhakar Badgujar in Mumbai Badgujar finances Salim Kutta which is akin to promoting antinationals state minister Dada Bhuse told reporters on the premises of the Vidhan Bhavan in NagpurMeanwhile Congress MLA Kailas Gorantyal expressed doubts about the identity of the person purportedly seen in the video with BadgujarSaleem Kutta or Saleem Kurla was murdered a long time ago in Mumbai in 1998 His three wives had approached a TADA court for the release of the property seized by the police earlier The court had upheld their appeal We dont know who this person is dancing in the video he told reportersA case on charges of cheating and corruption has been registered against Badgujar in Nashik by the AntiCorruption Bureau ACBFadnavis on Friday announced a probe by a Special Investigation Team SIT into the dance party where Salim Kutta and Badgujar were allegedly present togetherThe AntiCorruption Bureau filed a police complaint against Badgujar accusing him of submitting fake documents of retirement from a company in which he was a director in 2006Dont take unjust action If the documents about his retirement from the company provided by me are proven fake I will commit suicide will hang myself in the ACB commissioners office the Sena UBT leader saidHe said the ACB issued a notice to him suddenly at 7 pm on Sunday and his houses were raided With inputs from PTI