New Delhi:
Senior NCP leader Praful Patel on Tuesday rubbished as “mere speculation” reports about his alleged deal in Mumbai with gangster Iqbal Mirchi. The ED has summoned Patel on October 18 in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged illegal assets of Mirchi, an aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
“Documents may have been leaked to media. Obviously, you are in possession of some papers, which may have never been brought to my attention,” Patel told reporters here. Mirchi, a drug lord, died in 2013. It was reported that his wife Hajra Memon entered into a property deal with the Patel family.
According to ED officials, Patel’s Millennium Developers Pvt Ltd constructed a building called Ceejay House in 2006-07 and its third and fourth floors were transferred to Mirchi’s wife Hajra Iqbal. “My family owns Millennium. No one else is a partner,” Patel said.
Here are the highlights of the press conference:
5.28 pm: Hazra Memon was an income tax payer & she also had a passport: NCP leader
5.26 pm: Hazra Iqbal Memon paid Rs 7 lakhs to the court which was received and accepted by the court receiver in 1990: NCP leader
5.24 pm: Behind the building, there were some illegal occupants: NCP leader Praful Patel.
5.23 pm: NCP's Praful Patel on reports of his name appearing in a land deal related to gangster Iqbal Mirchi: There are speculative views & documents which may have been leaked to media. Obviously, you are in possession of some papers which may have never been brought to my attention.
5.22 pm: Nobody from the D-Gang has ever held even a single share of Millennium Developers: NCP leader.
5.22 pm: Initially, the land was brought on 4th November 1963, it was sold to 65 people which included 21 people of my family: NCP leader Praful Patel
5.21 pm: I want to put things in perspective. Ceejay land in Worli was bought in 1963. There was a family dispute for the land: NCP leader
5.21 pm: One of our family members had filed a case against Hazra Iqbal Memon in 1999: NCP leader.
5.21 pm: We could lay hands on only 2 papers because I was in the middle of the campaign and I didn't want too much of this misinformation: Praful Patel.
5.20 pm: I don’t want to comment on this matter because the investigation is underway. I have no complaints against all that has been appearing in the media: NCP leader
5.18 pm: Part of the Worli building has a particular person, who is an occupant on the third floor, issue is how that person got into that building and whether that person had any link with me or my family: Praful Patel
5.16 pm: Praful Patel refers to Hazra Memon as OCCUPANT.
5.14 pm: There were disputes in my family after my father passed away & the property (Ceejay House) went into litigation: NCP leader
5.12 pm: We are neither looking after the property nor are we in charge of it: NCP leader Praful Patel
5.10 pm: ‘There is no wrongdoing in Ceejay House deal…the news about me is speculative’, says Praful Patel.
