The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at seven locations in Pune and one place at Aurangabad in Maharashtra in connection with the alleged Waqf Board land scam case. The Waqf Board comes under the department of Minority Development headed by minister Nawab Malik.
Maharashtra | Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids at seven locations in Pune, in connection Waqf Board land scam case
— ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2021
However, the minister quickly jumped to claim that raids were not carried on the offices of Waqf Board but on one endowment trust Tabut Inam Endowment Trust with regard to certain transactions. “I think this is an attempt to browbeat and defame me by spreading rumours. I will not say anything directly on this issue. I am not the chairperson of the Waqf Board but this is under my department. This matter is related to endowment trust now registered with the Waqf Board. The land of the endowment trust was acquired and some people with the help of bogus documents withdrew about Rs 9 crore from the government,” News 18 quoted Malik saying.
#EXCLUSIVE | It’s just a game of scaring me by spreading rumours: NCP Leader @nawabmalikncp tells @maryashakil on ED raids at 7 locations in connection with Pune Waqf Board Land Scam pic.twitter.com/UALOgURPJn
— News18 (@CNNnews18) November 11, 2021
But from the minister’s statement, it was clear that the scam had taken place when the said endowment trust was part of the Waqf Board. He claimed that in this matter he had taken action including FIR against five persons.
Malik further clarified that his ministry has been trying to ‘clean up’ Waqf Board related issues and the ED should come and probe over 30,000 trusts that are associated with the Board. He even called the media reports a ‘campaign by the BJP and RSS’. As per a report in Free Press Journal, Malik claimed that very soon the Waqf Board will launch a portal to provide all papers and records. He even added that in the past year, 7 FIRs have been lodged against various trusts and they are being probed.
It is notable that Malik has relentlessly been carrying personal attacks on Mumbai zone Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director, Sameer Wankhede, his family members other NCB officials and former Maharashtra BJP CM Devendra Fadnavis right after Wankhede arrested Aryan Khan, son of cine star Shah Rukh Khan in a drug case in October.
Rs 7.76 crore amount of land acquisition pocketed by private persons
In August this year, Pune police registered a case of cheating against individuals Chand Mulani and Imtiyaz Shaikh for misappropriating Rs 7.76 crore sanctioned by the Maharashtra government for the acquisition of the Trust land. They were accused of pretending to be office-bearers of Tabut Inam Endowment Trust and had even produced forged documents of the Waqf Board identifying their credentials.
Both accused who are natives of Yerwada submitted forged documents including a NOC of the Waqf Board and got a demand draft of Rs 7,76,98,250. The demand draft was deposited in the account of Imtiaz Sheikh.
The Trust owned eight acres of prime Waqf land in Maan near Hinjewadi which was acquired by the Maharashtra government for the fourth phase of the Rajiv Gandhi Technology Park. The government was earmarked around Rs 9.64 crore to the trust against the acquisition. When the Trust did not get the money it complained to Waqf Board and the scam was exposed.
