Sameer Wankhede, the Narcotics Control Bureau officer in charge of the investigation into the Aryan Khan case, hit back at Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik's false allegations on Monday.
Mr Malik has been a vocal critic of the anti-drugs agency and its investigations into Aryan Khan arrest over the drug seizure case. The NCP leader this morning had tweeted a photo of document
related to the birth of Mr Wankhede and said, "the forgery began from here."
Following the tweet, Wankhede condemned the "shoddy" comment.
"I have come to know about a recent tweet by Nawab Malik regarding caste certificate," Wankhede stated, slamming Nawab for the remarks.
"This is a shoddy attempt to bring in things that are unrelated to (the drugs case). My mother was Muslim… (why) does he want to bring my dead mother into this?” Wankhede
said.
"To verify my caste and background anyone can visit my native place and verify my descent from my great-grandfather. But he should not spread this filth like this. I will fight all
this legally and don't want to comment too much on this out of court," the NCB officer was quoted saying by media outlets.
The Mumbai special court hearing this matter has received an affidavit from Mr Wankhede. "My family, including my sister and deceased mother, are being targeted," he stated.
Malik's attack on Wankhede came a day after an "independent witness" Prabhakar Sail claimed that an NCB official and others, including absconding witness K P Gosavi demanded
Rs 25 crore to release Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who was arrested in the case.
Also Read: Twist in Aryan Khan case, witness makes ‘shocking’ claim against NCB
Sail further claimed that after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office after the October 3 raid, he overheard Gosavi telling Sam D'Souza over the phone about a demand of Rs 25 crore
and "to settle at Rs 18 crore as they have to give Rs eight crore to Sameer Wankhede."
He further alleged that he was asked to sign nine to ten blank papers by NCB officials. A top NCB official, on the other hand, dismissed the charges, calling them "completely false
and malicious."
According to NCB sources, Mr Sail's charges were made "to malign the (agency's) image."
Meanwhile, Mr Wankhede wrote to Mumbai Police seeking protection from legal action, fearing "being framed" falsely with "ulterior motives." Nawab Malik's tweet comes
a day after this.
"They (BJP) have a puppet - Wankhede. He raises bogus cases... I challenge Wankhede he'll lose his job in a year... We have evidence of bogus cases," claimed Mr Malik.
Nawab Malik has alleged, among other things, that Sameer Wankhede was in the Maldives throughout the lockdown and that he was extorting Bollywood celebs.
"I have gone with my children, with proper permission and my own money," retaliated Wankhede while talking to NDTV over the allegations.
Nawab Malik has also stated that the NCB case is "fake" and that it was triggered by the centre to smear Maharashtra's government. He stated, "Attempts were made to implicate
certain people."