Former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis Detained By Mumbai Police, Released Later

Mumbai police arrested former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Former Maharashtra CM and leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai, Friday, March 4, 2022. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and other BJP leaders were detained by Mumbai police on Wednesday as they tried to take out a protest march demanding the resignation of state minister Nawab Malik.

Fadnavis was spotted waving the BJP flag from the police jeep in photos while being detained.

Other leaders who were also detained include Pravin Darekar, Ashish Shelar, Girish Mahajan, Nitish Rane, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and Niranjan Davkare. They were released later, said a police official.

Fadnavis, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, Ashish Shelar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha and others were detained near Metro Cinema and taken to the Yellow Gate police station, PTI quoted a police official as saying.

Fadnavis had been protesting in the past few days in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly demanding the resignation of NCP minister Nawab Malik who is currently in judicial custody till March 21 in relation to a money laundering case involving gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Mumbai police detain BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders of the party as they were carrying out a protest march demanding the resignation of state minister Nawab Malik #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/EfEM3AytO7

— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2022

Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on February 23 after hours-long interrogation. The ED case is based on an FIR by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The ED has registered the case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). 

The ED has been investigating the money laundering case for the past few months. In the same regard, it conducted multiple raids at Ibrahim and his aide's hideouts. 

Nawab Malik's son Faraz Malik was also summoned by the ED for interrogation earlier. 

In February the ED questioned Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar, his brother Iqbal Kaskar, his brother-in-law Salim Fruit, and Chhota Shakeel.