Dresses Expensively, Frames People in Drug Cases: NCP Leader on Sameer Wankhede

“Some people said that matters relating to drugs involve money, goons and I could lose my life. Attempts were made to silence me,” the minister said.

(Photo: The Quint)

Continuing his relentless attacks at NCB officer Sameer Wankhede, Nationalist Congress leader Nawab Malik on Tuesday, 2 November, remarked that the drug agency officer dressed too expensively and went on to share WhatsApp chats between an alleged drug smuggler and Wankhede's sister.

Speaking to reporters, Malik had said,

"In these chats 'lady don' Yasmeen Wankhede is talking to a person arrested over drugs. She is sharing her visiting card and address. Why is the sister of the NCB officer communicating with a drug accused?"

Nawab Malik, as per NDTV

Later in the day, the NCB officer responded to Malik's charge, calling his allegations 'false' and claiming that a drug smuggler had approached his sister for legal counsel.

However, Yasmeen reportedly told the peddler that she doesn't oversee cases under the NDPS, or the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

What More Did Malik Say

Speaking on Wankhede's clothes, the minister had commented that he wore shoes worth ₹ 2 lakh, shirts and t-shirts worth ₹ 50,000 and ₹ 30,000, respectively, and owned watches worth ₹ 20 lakh, NDTV reported.

He went on to assert that Wankhede earned this money by extorting and framing people. "How can an honest and upright officer afford such expensive clothes?" he questioned, NDTV quoted.

Expounding on these claims later in the day, he added that Yasmeen was also part of Wankhede's 'private army' that frames people over frivolous drug charges, and ignore big drug busts.

"As per information available with me, as soon as Wankhede (Sameer Wankhede) joined this dept, he raised his private Army. Kiran Gosavi. Manish Bhanushali, Fletcher Patel, Adil Usmani, Sam D'Souza are all the players in that private Army," the leader added, ANI reported.

Wankhede's Rebuttal

Responding to these claims, Wankhede said that the drug peddler, Salman, had indeed approached his sister.

Labelling Malik's comments as false allegations, he added "Salman tried to trap us via a middleman. He was arrested and is in jail."

He claimed further that the accused had approached the

Mr Wankhede clarified that the accused in question had earlier also given a false complaint to Mumbai Police and that it had been closed, news agency ANI reported.

"After that peddlers like Salman were used to trap my family," Wankhede said further.

On the matter of his expensive clothes, the NCB officer rubbished Malik's claims as 'rumours'. "As far as my expensive clothes are concerned, it is just a rumour. He (Mr Malik) does not have knowledge," he stated.

This controversy comes at a time when Wankhede probing the drugs-on-cruise case involving Aryan Khan.

(With inputs from ANI and NDTV.)