On Monday, Sameer Wankhede, the zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), told a special court in Mumbai that he and his family were being targeted and that he was ready for an investigation into the charges levelled against him.
My family is being targeted, including my sister and deceased mother
Wankhede appeared before a special NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) court in connection with the investigation of the drugs-on-the-cruise case. In the matter, two affidavits have been filed: one by NCB and one by Wankhede.
Wankhede and Maharastra minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik are at odds over the drug-on-cruise inquiry in Mumbai. Malik posted Wankhede’s birth certificate on Twitter, writing, “Sameer Dawood Wankhede’s fraud began here.” Following this, Wankhede stated that he will fight Malik in court.
“I learned about a new tweet concerning my birth certificate from Nawab Malik. This is a clumsy attempt to include everything that isn’t related to anything. Is he trying to include my deceased mother, who was a Muslim, in all of this? Anyone may travel to my hometown and trace my ancestors back to my great grandpa to confirm my caste and origin. However, he should not propagate this trash in this manner. I’ll fight all of this legally and won’t say anything about it outside of court “
Wankhade told ANI
Previously, the Maharashtra minister accused Wankhede of extortion and threatened the NCB employee that he would lose his position within a year.
On October 2, an NCB team intercepted an alleged narcotics party on the Cordelia Cruise ship, which was on its route to Goa.
So far, 20 people have been detained in the case, including Bollywood celebrity Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.
The affidavits had asked the court to issue an order stating that no court should take heed of Prabhakar Sail’s statement, in which he claimed that Wankhede and others attempted to extort money from Shah Rukh Khan in exchange for the release of his kid from the narcotics case. Ananya Panday, a Bollywood star, did not appear before the NCB on Monday for interrogation in connection with her alleged WhatsApp communications with Aryan Khan (23), who was detained in the drugs-on-cruise case, an official said.
In its affidavit, the central agency stated, “It is emphatically stated that the NCB, as an organisation and/or its officers, the zonal director, who has an impeccable service record, replete with honesty and integrity, has no interest whatsoever as falsely alleged in the purported affidavit (of the witness).”
“The NCB, led by its zonal director, and its staff were working relentlessly with the sole goal of eradicating the drug scourge in Mumbai and acting in accordance with the purposes and objectives of this draconian law (NDPS Act), to make the city drug free,” it added.
In a statement to the media on Sunday, Sail stated that an officer of the NCB and other others, including absconding witness K P Gosavi, requested Rs 25 crore to release Aryan Khan from the case. After Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office following the October 2 raid on the cruise ship, Sail overheard Gosavi informing one Sam D’Souza over the phone about a demand of Rs 25 crore and “to settle at Rs 18 crore since they had to provide Rs eight crore to Sameer Wankhede.” Sail had stated that he would soon reveal proof to back up his allegation.