Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik on Wednesday in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides, officials said.

The 62-year-old NCP leader was taken into custody after he was questioned for about five hours at the ED office in south Mumbai's Ballard Estate area since around 8 AM.

His statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was arrested under the same provisions as he was evasive in his replies, the officials said.

His party said he was taken by the ED from his residence at around 6 AM.

Last week, the ED on Tuesday conducted raids at the residence of Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar in Mumbai in connection with the money laundering case.

Searches were carried out by the ED at several places linked to people associated with the underworld in Mumbai, informed sources said on Tuesday.

The ED had also conducted searches at 10 different locations related to late Haseena Parkar, sister of Dawood Ibrahim, in Nagpada.

The agency had also questioned Dawood's nephew and Parkar's son Alishah Parkar and Chota Shakeel's henchman Salim Qureshi aka Salim Fruits.