Mumbai, May 21: The Maharashtra government today ordered a probe after revenue minister Eknath Khadse, one of the BJP's senior-most leaders in the state, was accused of having links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Preeti Sharma Menon told a news conference in Mumbai that Khadse's mobile phone was the most dialled number from Dawood's Karachi residence for nearly seven months between September 5, 2015, and April 5, 2016. She said an "ethical hacker" was the source of the information.

Khadse, a farmer leader who was one of three contenders for the post of chief minister when the BJP-led alliance came to power in the state in 2014, dismissed the allegations as baseless. He told The Telegraph that the phone number, 9423073667, was his but that he had not used it for a year.

"I have asked the government to probe the matter - this is a wild allegation. I have also asked the service provider to check whether my number was illegally cloned as it was not in use. I need to get to the bottom of this. I am horrified by this allegation. Neither me nor any member of my family has had anything to do with Dawood Ibrahim," the BJP leader said.

But Menon told the news conference that a bill of Rs 683.22 was generated in April for the phone number. She said Khadse had paid bill amounts of Rs 454.34 in March and Rs 1,307.14 in February for the same number.

"If it is not in use, then how are bills being generated and why is Mr Khadse paying them?" the AAP leader asked.

Menon also claimed that the minister had changed his SIM card for the number in April because of "damage of SIM, for that he paid Rs 50 extra".

Vadodara-based Manish Bhangale, who claims on his Facebook page that he is "an ethical hacker approved by the Government of India and working for intelligence agencies of India", had claimed last month that he had broken into the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) database and accessed call records of four landline numbers registered at Dawood's mansion in the Clifton neighbourhood of Karachi.

At that time, India Today had reported that the call details made available to them by Bhangale revealed that a senior Maharashtra politician was on his frequently dialled list.

Bhangale could not be reached despite many attempts.

Khadse, who was the architect of the Sena-BJP alliance that had run into rough weather before government formation, yesterday sent a legal notice to AAP activist Anjali Damania who had claimed last week that the minister was hand in glove with his aide Gajanan Patil, arrested last week by Maharashtra's anti-corruption bureau for taking a bribe of Rs 30 crore in a land allotment case. "I am waiting for her reply," Khadse said.

Damania said she had not received any notice so far.

While the probe into the alleged calls from Dawood will be conducted by Mumbai police, the case against Patil is being pursued by the anti-corruption bureau. Both report to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio.