Nawab Malik meets Maharashtra CM, Home Minister amid feud with NCB's Sameer Wankhede

After meeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil, NCP's Nawab Malik on Tuesday said that a First Information Report (FIR) will be filed in the handling of Mumbai's cruise drug bust case by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The NCP leader, who has been making claims with regard to the NCB and its Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede since day one, said that the Chief Minister and the Home Minister during the meeting expressed concern over the targeting of Bollywood celebrities, in cases that involved recovery as minimal as 5-6 grams of drugs.

So far, 20 have been arrested in the cruise drug bust case, including Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan. Actor Ananya Panday has also been summoned by the central agency multiple times. 

'Will file complaint against Sameer Wankhede before Caste Validity Committee'

Specifically targeting Sameer Wankhede, who is at the helm of the probe of the Cordelia cruise ship drug bust case, Nawab Malik said that a complaint against the NCB Mumbai Zonal Director will be filed before the Caste Validity Committee. The NCP Minister said, "Deserving people have not got the job because people like Sameer Wankhede based on fake certificates have placed themselves on the post." "We have faith in the system, and action will be taken. We are not digging out religion and personal lives of anyone," added Nawab Malik.

In a press conference held earlier in the day, Nawab Malik said, "The birth certificate that we have tweeted is real. The name of his father is Dawood K Wankhede on the certificate. If you observe carefully, the additional alteration has been done on the certificate putting a star mark. In Mumbai, anyone can procure birth certificates online. The birth certificate of Wankhede Sahab's sister is available online. But this certificate is not available online despite searching a lot. We got hold of the scanned computerised document after looking it up for one and a half months."

However, the claims have all been rejected by Sameer Wankhede and his family. While Sameer Wankhede has filed an affidavit in which, taking pride in his 'secular heritage', he stated that the publication of his personal documents is "defamatory" in nature and amounted to an unnecessary invasion of his family's privacy. Sameer Wankhede's family - his father, sister, and wife -have called it a "plot" to derail the probe in the drug nexus. 

Image: PTI, ANI