Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and other ministers sat on a dharna here on Thursday to protest the arrest of their cabinet colleague Nawab Malik by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case linked to gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

NCP leader Pawar, whose party shares power with the Shiv Sena and the Congress, was the first to reach the protest site close to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue near the state secretariat. He was later joined by several Congress and Shiv Sena leaders.

Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat said central probe agencies were being used to silence the BJP’s political opponents. “This is an unfortunate and a black chapter in the country’s history,” the Congress leader said.

Jayant Patil, the state NCP chief, said the allegations against Malik were “baseless”. Malik will respond to all the allegations of terror links against him in court, Patil said.

The BJP’s “attempt to overthrow the MVA government” has not been successful. “The action against the serving cabinet minister is part of such a move,” he said.