NCB's Sameer Wankhede summoned by caste certificate scrutiny committee on December 14

Mumbai District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday initiated a probe into the allegations surrounding Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede's caste certificate, asking him to appear before the commission on December 14. The summons came based on a complaint filed by Bhim Army state president Ashok Kamble who accused the NCB officer of giving false information to obtain a ‘Mahar’ caste certificate for a government job. Ashok Kamble has alleged that Wankhede was a Muslim according to his birth certificate and had married under Sharia law. The Bhim Army leader has alleged that a bogus certificate was obtained by him for professional gains. 

Taking cognisance of the complaint, the Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee held its first hearing today after which it directed Sameer Wankhede to be present on the next date scheduled for December 14 at 3 PM. A written reply is expected to be filed by Wankhede before the hearing.

NCSC deems Sameer Wankhede's caste certificates original

Shortly after the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and 7 others in the Mumbai cruise drugs bust case, MVA Minister Nawab Malik began levelling personal and professional allegations against Sameer Wankhede, the man at the helm of the probe. In a deeply personal attack, Malik claimed that Wankhede's father Dnyandev was actually 'Dnyandev Dawood Wankhede' and that his name had been changed to obtain a caste certificate, using which Sameer became an IRS officer via 'reserve category'. 

Maintaining his defence, Wankhede and his family asserted that there were Hindu and the allegations by the sitting Minister had surfaced only after the agency arrested Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan in a drugs case. 

In October, amid the constant slandering by Nawab Malik, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) found that Sameer Wankhede's caste certificates were original. In another big win, Nawab Malik's lawyer has now given an undertaking before the Bombay High Court, that the Minister will not make statements against the Wankhede family until the next date of hearing i.e December 9. 

Image: PTI