Maharashtra minister attends wedding of gangster Dawood’s kin in Nashik, lands in trouble

Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan is in controversy after reports that he attended the wedding reception of a relative of gangster Dawood Ibrahim in Nashik on May 19.

Mahajan is the minister for water conservation and medical education as well as the guardian minister of Nashik district.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the Nashik police chief to submit a report. “I have already told Nashik police commissioner to send a report on the matter,” Fadnavis told HT.

The controversy started after a Marathi news channel IBN Lokmat started showing clips of the wedding reception on Wednesday.

The incident has caused embarrassment to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, as Mahajan is considered his close aide. According to reports, the bride is Dawood Ibrahim’s wife’s niece.

Mahajan told the media he attended the wedding on invitation by the groom’s uncle, Shahar Khateeb, who is a religious leader in Nashik and participates in various medical camps organised by the health department. He said he was unaware of the bride’s relatives.

Along with Mahajan, three BJP MLAs, Nashik mayor Ranjana Bhanasi and 8 police officers also attended the wedding.