Nawab Malik's daughter Nilofer issues open letter on husband's arrest; SIT takes over case

As the Central NCB team takes over Sameer Wankhede's six high-profile cases, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik's daughter Nilofer Malik Khan on Saturday, issued an open letter, stating what she and her family went through when her husband Sameer Khan was arrested. In the letter, she asserts her husband's innocence in the NCB's drug case and the raid by the agency of their home after Sameer Khan's arrest. Her father - Nawab Malik has made multiple allegations against the probing officer Sameer Wankhede ranging from caste misuse to corruption.

Nawab Malik's daughter's open letter on husband's arrest

"Despite the NCB having no concrete proof, Sameer Khan - my husband - was arrested. The following morning at 7:30 AM there were NCB officers at our door to search our house and officer. After tossing our belongings and thoroughly checking both places, they found nothing, absolutely nothing. What we endured as a family cannot be expressed in words. We were shunned overnight and terms like 'peddlers' were thrown at us," stated Nilofer Malik Khan. Sameer Khan was arrested on 12 January in connection to a drugs case and was granted bail on October 14 after the NCB failed to produce evidence of his involvement.

Central NCB team takes over probe

Amid the barrage of allegations against Wankhede, a central NCB team - headed by Sanjay Kumar Singh - has taken over Wankhede's six high-profile cases on Friday. The cases include Mumbai cruise drug bust, Sameer Khan's drug probe,  cases regarding Armaan Kohli, Iqbal Kaskar, Kashmir drug case, and one other such case. With Sameer Wankhede still heading the NCB Mumbai unit, the SIT will probe the case along with the assistance of the officers of the Mumbai Unit.

NCP Vs NCB

The feud between NCP and NCB began when Nawab Malik has shared Sameer Wankhede's birth certificate in which his father's name is mentioned as 'Dawood K Wankhede'. Alleging that Wankhede had 'hid' his identity as a Muslim to get (Dalit) SC reservation in IRS exam, Malik has sought a probe into Wankhede's status. He also alleged that Wankhede's father Dnyandev Kachruji Wankhede had converted while marrying his mother Late Mrs. Zaheeda. Both father and son have refuted the conversion allegations. The NCSC (National Commission for Scheduled Castes) has verified Wankhede's caste certificate and stated that there are no official records of his religious conversion. 

Moreover, one of the independent witnesses in the drug bust - Prabhakar Sail - alleged that he heard KP Gosavi and Sam D'Souza, talking about an Rs 18 crore deal in the Mumbai cruise drugs bust case - of which Rs 8 crore was supposed to be given to NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. Both Gosavi and Sameer Wankhede have refuted the extortion claims, while NCB is questioning Wankhede on it. Aryan Khan's legal team has distanced itself from it.