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Updated October 24th, 2021 at 18:33 IST

Union Min Ramdas Athawale supports Sameer Wankhede, calls Nawab Malik's claims 'baseless'

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday termed the allegations levelled by Nawab Malik against Sameer Wankhede as "baseless" and "mischievous".

Reported by: Swagata Banerjee
Ramdas Athawale
Image: PTI/.ANI | Image:self
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As Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik continues to make several allegations against NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede over the Aryan Khan drug case, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday termed the allegations levelled by Malik against Wankhede as "baseless" and "mischievous". 

He came out in support of the officer, saying that he has not done anything wrong. Athawale also said the state government should ensure that Wankhede is not harmed and that there is no threat to his life.

Malik has been repeatedly targeting the NCB and Wankhede over the raid on a cruise earlier this month which led to the recovery of drugs and the arrest of Aryan Khan, who is the son of Bollywood megatsar Shah Rukh Khan.

While addressing a press conference, Athawale said,

The  state government should ensure there is no threat to Wankhede's life. Wankhede hasn't done anything wrong. He and the NCB are working to save the youths from the drugs menace. Instead of supporting this, Malik is targeting Wankhede because action was taken against his son-in-law Sameer Khan. The allegations levelled by Malik against Wankhede are baseless and mischievous.

Meanwhile, NCB released a statement on Sunday, firmly rejecting allegations that its private detective demanded Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan Khan. 

In a sensational development to the Aryan Khan case, independent witness Prabhakar Sail, who claims to be a personal bodyguard of private investigator KP Gosavi, alleged that he heard a ₹18 crore deal between Gosavi and one Sam D'Souza, of which ₹8 crore was to be paid to Sameer Wankhede.

Sail also alleged that Gosavi had already received ₹50 lakh in the matter. NCB Zonal director Sameer Wankhede denied Prabhakar's allegations and submitted his affidavit to his Director-General for further investigation. 

Mumbai Cruise Drugs Case

On October 3, Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and several others were arrested in connection with NCB’s Mumbai unit raids conducted on a cruise ship off the city coast.

They were arrested and accused of consumption and ‘conspiracy’, among other charges. Senior advocates Satish Maneshinde and Amit Desai are a part of Aryan Khan’s legal team, who have been arguing the case for the release of the 23-year-old.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing the NCB, has opposed the bail plea over major points. Some of the pointers were that six grams of Charas were recovered from Aryan's friend Arbaaz Merchant (which was allegedly for both of them) and whatsapp conversion indicating international drug trafficking.

He further argued that Aryan Khan is a regular consumer of drugs and his release will further hamper the investigation. Aryan Khan and other accused are currently held in Arthur Road Jail. 

(With PTI Inputs)

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Published October 24th, 2021 at 18:33 IST

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