Drug baron was on cruise ship but not held: Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik

In fresh claim, Minister alleges man has close ties with NCB official Sameer Wankhede

MUMBAI

An international drug baron having close ties with NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede was present on the Cordelia cruise but allowed to party and let go by the agency, claimed NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Wednesday.

“I have videos from the cruise where this bearded international drug mafia [baron] is dancing with his lover. He was in Tihar jail and also in Rajasthan jail. Since he had close relations with Sameer Wankhede, he was never arrested or stopped. Instead, a few others were trapped before entering the cruise, and the entire drama of drug seizure was staged,” said Mr. Malik, in a new set of allegations against controversial NCB officer Mr. Wankhede.

Mr. Malik called upon the NCB team, which is in Mumbai to probe independent witness Prabhakar Sail’s allegation of Mr. Wankhede demanding extortion money from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan nabbed in the drug case, to check CCTV footage of the cruise.

“It is a big agency. They should check everything. If they don’t, we will make everything public in the coming days,” he said, adding the close ties between Wankhede and the drug baron were such that the officer never raided the latter’s activities in Goa.

“The whole episode of arresting a few individuals was staged at the terminal. Nothing happened on the cruise. The cruise was never stopped. Not a single person among 1,350 travellers was questioned. The party had no permission from the State Home Department, neither were COVID-19 protocols followed,” Mr. Malik alleged.

A day after releasing the birth certificate of Mr. Wankhede in which the officer is named as Sameer Dawood Wankhede and claiming that he fraudulently obtained a Scheduled Caste certificate to get an IRS job, Mr. Malik on Wednesday released a ‘nikahnama’ that showed Mr. Wankhede’s first marriage was with Shabana Qureshi.

“On Thursday, December 7, 2006, 8 p.m., a Nikah was performed between Sameer Dawood Wankhede and Sabana Qureshi at Lokhand Wala complex, Andheri (West), Mumbai. Meher amount was ₹33,000. Witness no. 2 was Aziz Khan, husband of Yasmin Dawood Wankhede, elder sister of Sameer Dawood Wankhede,” he said.

“I am not bringing religion into this matter. But as per the law, a Muslim individual cannot take benefits of Scheduled Caste reservation. Wankhede submitted a fake caste certificate and deprived another poor Dalit student of the opportunity to become an officer,” he noted.

“A formal complaint will be filed with the caste certificate scrutiny committee. Investigation will take place. Wankhede will lose his job. As per law, he will go to jail for two to seven years,” he said.

When asked about the BJP extending support to Mr. Wankhede, the NCP leader retorted, “Why is the BJP worried as Sameer Wankhede is being exposed? Is the BJP a shareholder in the extortion racket run by Wankhede?”

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