Praful Patel dismisses 'links' with drug lord Iqbal Mirchi as 'speculation'; NCP leader to appear before ED on 18 October

Mumbai: Senior NCP leader Praful Patel on Tuesday rubbished as “mere speculation” reports about his alleged deal in Mumbai with gangster Iqbal Mirchi. [caption id=“attachment_7503491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Praful Patel addressing the media on Tuesday. Twitter/@ANI[/caption] The ED has summoned Patel on 18 October 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 the media. Obviously, you are in possession of some papers, which may have never been brought to my attention,” Patel told reporters. 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.