'My Name Isn't Dawood': Sameer Wankhede's Father Refutes Nawab Malik's Claim

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.

(Photo: The Quint)

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede's father on Monday, 25 October, asserted that his name is Dnyandev, as opposed to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik's claim that his name was Dawood, news agency PTI reported.

In an interview with a local news channel, he stated,

"It is an absolute lie that my name is Dawood Wankhede. I think there is some malafide intention of Mr Malik behind releasing that birth certificate of Sameer Wankhede and defaming us. My name is Dnyandev Wankhede since my birth and it is still the same."

Wankhede's father went on to slam the NCP leader for "playing very low-level politics" after the latter tweeted a document related to Sameer Wankhede’s birth and wrote, “Sameer Dawood Wankhede’s forgery began here.”

He also underlined that his graduation documents and a tenure in a state government department prove that his name is Dnyandev.

"How is it possible that none of them knew my name was not Dnyandev and it was Dawood? How come Malik alone gets the suspicious document?" he questioned, PTI reported.

Referring to his son as 'Abhimanyu' from the epic Mahabharata, 'Dnyandev' stated that while his son is surrounded by enemies, he will break free of ''chakravyuh".

Meanwhile, NCB sources quoting Sameer Wankhede had said, "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?" NDTV reported.

Malik had earlier alleged that the NCB’s case is “fake” and was an attempt to malign the image of the Maharashtra government, adding that, “attempts were made to implicate certain people.”

'Would Not Have Arrested Aryan Khan for Bribe'

On being questioned about allegations stating that Sameer Wankhede demanded a bribe from Shah Rukh Khan, he stated, "He would not have arrested his (Shah Rukh Khan's) son (Aryan Khan) and then demanded it."

Speaking on the manner in which NCB's witness, Prabhakar Sail, levelled the allegation against the officer, he added, "While talking Sail is coughing, drinking water. All these are signs of getting beaten up severely. Why was he quiet for so many days if he was made to sign some blank papers (after the alleged cruise ship raid by NCB officials)?"

Sail claims to be the bodyguard of KP Gosavi, the alleged private investigator who was seen in the viral selfie with Aryan Khan.

He claimed that he heard a conversation between KP Gosavi and a Sam D’Souza about a deal concerning Rs 18 crore. He added that Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani was also present.

(With inputs from PTI.)