Nawab Malik tweets photo of alleged drug peddler with Fadnavis’ wife

In return, ex-CM alleges that NCP Minister has relations with underworld

Amruta Fadnavis, wife of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis. File

Kick-starting yet another controversy and taking former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis head-on, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and State Minister Nawab Malik on Monday tweeted a photograph of alleged drug peddler Jaydeep Rana with Mr. Fadnavis’ wife, Amruta, saying ‘Come, let’s talk about the relations between BJP and drug peddlers today.’

And in return, Mr. Fadnavis alleged that Mr. Malik had relations with the underworld.

Mr. Malik said, “I have released a photograph of a person named Jaideep Rana who is presently in Sabarmati jail of Delhi. He has been arrested in a case of drug trafficking. He was the financial head of the song River Anthem released by Amruta Fadnavis in which Devendra Fadnavis too was featured. The drug business grew under his tenure”.

He also tweeted a screenshot of the description of the River Anthem song, where Rana has been mentioned as the Finance Head. According to sources, the mention has been removed since the allegations.

Replying to Mr. Malik, Mr. Fadnavis observed, “I will be exposing his underworld connections post-Diwali and will give all the evidence to NCP president Sharad Pawar.” Those who lived in the glass house should not throw stones at others, he added.

‘This is to pressurise NCB’

“He is doing all this to pressurise the NCB, which is probing the drug case against his son-in-law. The said photograph is an old one, taken during the shooting of the song and the company which made the video has clarified that they had hired his services for the song. The person under question has no relation whatsoever with me or my wife,” Mr. Fadnavis stressed. He threatened that Mr Malik has lit a sparkler before Diwali, so he would burst a bomb post-Diwali.

Replying to the BJP leader, Mr. Malik tweeted in Hindi. “Hai Taiyar hum [We are ready]”.

Earlier, Mr Malik pointed to Neeraj Gunde, who was one of the close aides of Mr. Fadnavis during the latter’s tenure as the Chief Minister, demanding a CBI probe. “Neeraj Gunde used to frequent the Chief Minister’s office, from where he used to handle police transfers. Even Sameer Wankhede was brought in by Fadnavis who is controlling drug operations. The Centre must conduct a judicial probe and even a CBI investigation,” he stated.

The NCP leader alleged that the BJP had been posting officers in Central services to target Bollywood and Maharashtra.