Nawab Malik vs Sameer Wankhede: Allegations mount in a charged drugs case

NCP chief spokesperson and Maharashtra’s minority affairs minister Nawab Malik has been targetting Sameer Wankhede ever since the NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Director came to the limelight for arresting Shah Rukh Khan's son in the cruise ship drugs case.

Malik has so far made various allegations against Wankhede, as well as the anti-drugs agency, claiming an "extortion racket with the NCB" and "malafide intentions" behind cases filed against high-profile persons.

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'Illegal phone tapping'

In his latest salvo, Malik on Tuesday accused NCB official Sameer Wankhede of illegal phone tapping. “Sameer Wankhede through two persons in Mumbai and Thane is illegally intercepting the mobile phones of some people,” said Malik, who has been targeting Wankhede after his son-in-law’s arrest.

Malik also claimed that Wankhede had sought the call detail record (CDR) of his family member from the police.

'Forged caste certificate'

Malik has also accused Wankhede of forging his caste certificate. According to Malik, as per the birth certificate, Wankhede is a born Muslim but he charged that he appeared for the UPSC exams through a reserved category and became an IRS officer.

Malik tweeted a purported birth certificate and marriage photo of the embattled Wankhede with telling captions: ‘yahanse shuru hua farziwada’ (the fraud started here) and ‘pehchan kaun’ (guess who).

Wankhede, however, denied the charges saying that the minister is launching personal attacks on him and breaching his privacy.

Also Read — Nawab Malik shares letter alleging fraud within NCB in fresh salvo against Sameer Wankhede

'Extortion racket within NCB'

Earlier today, Malik shared a letter from an unnamed NCB official alleging fraud within the anti-drugs agency. Malik, who said he is forwarding the letter to NCB DG SN Pradhan, urged the agency to look into 26 allegations in a letter by an unknown NCB official claiming an "extortion racket" being run within the anti-drugs agency.

In the letter, the unnamed officer, who claimed that he has been working in the Mumbai NCB bureau for the past two years, alleged that Rakesh Asthana directed Sameer Wankhede and K P S Malhotra to register fake cases against Bollywood stars and extract money from them. The officer alleged that Wankhede and Malhotra filed 'fake cases' against Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Bharti Singh and others extracted crores of rupees via their lawyer.

Maldives trip

The NCP leader has also alleged that Wankhede had gone to the Maldives during the lockdown to conduct an extortion racket. To this, Wankhede said that he had visited the Maldives "with proper permission" and with his "own money" and not during the second wave-induced lockdown as claimed by Malik but a few months later. Malik had also claimed that Wankhede visited Dubai, which the NCB Zonal Director denied.

'Malafide intentions'

Last week, Malik had alleged that the anti-drugs agency had "malafide intentions" and it has been involved in "selective leaks" to frame people.

The minister had also alleged that the NCB's raid on the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 was “fake”, and no narcotic drugs were found during it.

Speaking in support of his son-in-law Sameer Khan, Malik had earlier referred to the bail order issued by an NDPS court and said that there was "no prima facie evidence of a drug syndicate". It is surprising that an agency like the NCB cannot differentiate between drugs which falls under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and tobacco-related items, the NCP leader said.

NCB-BJP 'collusion'

Malik has alleged a collusion between the NCB and the BJP leaders in the drugs-on-cruise case in which Aryan Khan has been identified as the accused number 1.

The minister had claimed that NCB had initially detained 11 persons from a Goa-bound cruise ship off the Mumbai coast, but let off three of them, including the brother-in-law of BJP leader Mohit Bharatiya, a couple of hours later.

Apart from the recent drugs bust onboard a cruise liner off the Mumbai coast, Wankhede last year investigated a drug case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and several other matters related to narcotics involving high-profile people.

Amid mounting allegations, the NCB has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the claims made by a witness in the cruise drugs case of an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some agency officials, including its Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, and others for letting off accused Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.

Wankhede has constantly denied all the allegations being made against him in this case. The officer on Sunday also wrote to Mumbai Police commissioner Hemant Nagrale, seeking protection from likely legal action "being planned" against him by unknown persons to falsely frame him concerning an alleged vigilance-related issue.

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