This comes a day after Wankhede’s father Dhyandev Kachruji Wankhede filed a defamation suit in the Bombay High Court against Nawab Malik and sought Rs 1.25 crore in damages
NCP leader Nawab Malik. ANI
In a fresh attack on NCB’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Monday asked if the officer’s sister-in-law was involved in “drug business” and claimed a case against her was pending in a Pune court.
Malik tweeted:
The NCP leader also posted a snapshot of a document related to that case.
Wankhede, responding to the charge, was quoted as saying by ANI: “I wasn’t even in service when the case happened in January 2008. I married Kranti Redkar in 2017, then how am I associated with the case anyway?”
“When is Malik is going to stop attacks against women? an NCB official further asked.
As far as the case pertaining to Harshada Dinanath Redkar is concerned, it is a very old case and is in court. Wankhede has nothing to do with Harshada’s case,” the official said.
“Why is Malik making such allegations which have no credibility?” the official wondered.
This comes a day after Wankhede’s father Dhyandev Kachruji Wankhede filed a defamation suit in the Bombay High Court against Nawab Malik and sought Rs 1.25 crore in damages. Also on Sunday, Malik alleged that Aryan Khan did not purchase the ticket for the Cordelia Cruise ship party and claimed that NCB official Sameer Wankhede was part of a plot to kidnap Shah Rukh Khan’s son.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Malik claimed that BJP leader Mohit Bharatiya, also known as Mohit Kamboj, was the mastermind of the drugs-on-cruise case and that he partnered with Wankhede in demanding ransom.
The minister on Sunday claimed Wankhede had met Bharatiya at a ‘kabarastan’ (graveyard) in suburban Oshiwara. “But, because of his (Wankhede’s) good luck, we couldn’t get the footage since police’s CCTV was not functioning. Hence, out of fear, Wankhede had lodged a false complaint that he was being stalked,” Malik said.
The alleged cruise rave party was a plot to kidnap Aryan Khan for ransom, of which Mohit Bharatiya was the mastermind,” the NCP leader alleged. Accusing Wankhede of being involved in the plot, he claimed Bharatiya was a member of Wankhede’s “private army”.
Malik appealed to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to come forward and support his fight against injustice. He accused Wankhede of creating fear among drug consumers while protecting peddlers and traffickers. He claimed the trap to kidnap Aryan Khan was laid through Rishabh Sachdeva, the brother-in-law of Bharatiya.
“Rs 25 crore were sought, and the deal was finalised at Rs 18 crore…Rs 50 lakh were given. The deal got spoilt because the selfie of K P Gosavi (NCB’s witness in the cruise drugs case) with Aryan, after his arrest, became viral,” he claimed.
The minister further said there have been attempts to frighten Shah Rukh Khan that since he “gave an amount of Rs 50 lakh”, he too becomes an accused.
“I appeal to him not to get scared. If your child is kidnapped and ransom is sought and the parent pays it, he is the victim and not the accused,” Malik said.
Malik has repeatedly termed the cruise drugs case as “fake” and levelled several allegations against Wankhede, including that he forged his caste certificate and other documents to secure government job. Wankhede has denied the allegations levelled against him.
An NCB team led by Wankhede last month conducted a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs onboard. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and 19 others were later arrested in connection with the cruise drugs case.
With inputs from agencies