NCP's Nawab Malik Shares NCB Official’s Letter, Says Wankhede Is Tapping Phones

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.

(Photo: The Quint)

Maharashtra Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik on Tuesday, 26 October, released a letter he received from an unnamed Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official to continue his attack on anti-drugs agency and on Mumbai NCB's Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, stating that Wankhede violated rules in as many as 26 cases.

This comes amid various twists in the drugs on cruise case in Mumbai, involving Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, whose bail appeal is being heard in the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.

While KP Gosavi, a private investigator whose selfie with Aryan Khan after his arrest went viral, is absconding, an independent witness made several allegations against Wankhede, alleging an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore.

Malik has also accused Wankhede of illegally intercepting the mobile phones of some people through two private people in Mumbai and Thane.

What Allegations Have Been Made?

The letter from the NCB employee "who has been working with the agency for two years," was shared in a tweet on Tuesday morning.

Allegations against the current Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana have also come to the fore. The letter reads, “Rakesh Asthana directed Sameer Wankhede and KPS Malhotra to frame Bollywood artists through any means necessary.”

The letter claims that after filing the fake cases, Malhotra and Wankhede took crores of rupees and gave Asthana his share as well.

The list of Bollywood celebrities from whom money was collected by their advocate Ayaz Khan, include Deepika Padukone, Karishma Prakash, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Bharti Singh, Haarsh Limbachiyaa, Rhea Chakraborty, Souvik Chakraborty, and Arjun Rampal.

Advocate Ayaz Khan allegedly collected the money from the celebrities framed. Furthermore, the letter adds, Ayaz Khan is friends with Wankhede and can enter the NCB office whenever he likes. Whenever Wankhede traps a Bollywood artist, he asks them to hire Ayaz Khan as their lawyer.

The letter further calls Wankhede an "attention seeker" who, wanting his name in the media, has allegedly framed innocent people.

Naming other officers of the NCB, the letters states that to frame innocent people, Wankhede had formed his own team. This included Superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, IOs Ashish Ranjan, Kiran Babu, Vishwanath Tiwari, JIO Sudhakar Shinde, OTC Kadam, among several others.

OTC Kadam, constable Reddy, PD Morey and Vishnu Meena, and driver Anil used to plant drugs during a raid, according to the letter, to frame innocent people. Similarly, if the quantity of drugs recovered from a place was too little, the officers used to exaggerate the quantity found.

The NCB official then lists as many as 26 cases in the letter where Wankhede and his team allegedly used tactics to frame people in false NDPS cases.

‘I Am Fighting Injustice’: Nawab Malik

Meanwhile, Malik said in a press conference after sharing the content of the letter, "My war is not against the agency... I am fighting injustice. I am only exposing one official who got the job by fraud. Wankhede used fake birth certificate to get the NCB job. He has been illegally tapping phones of some people in Thane and Mumbai.”

Malik, after releasing the contents of the letter, wrote in a tweet, "I am sending this letter to Director General Narcotics, requesting him to include this letter in the investigation being conducted on NCB's Sameer Wankhede. We demand there should be a probe."

Wankhede however, has denied the allegations, calling them "false and malicious." He was quoted as saying, "It's his right... he can put forth his opinion," NDTV reported.

On Tuesday afternoon, Wankhede's wife Kranti Redkar Wankhede said, "Such letters have no merit... My husband is not wrong, we will not tolerate this."

She added, "Why should we go to court? Those levelling allegations against us should go to court. We are not 'crorepatis', we are simple people. Sameer is an honest officer. Many people wish that he should be removed," news agency ANI reported.

Complaint Filed Against Malik

Meanwhile advocate Dhritiman Joshi has filed a complaint before the Mumbai police seeking an FIR against Nawab Malik alleging that his statements against Wankhede amount to obstruction of investigation in the Mumbai cruise case.

The complainant claims that Malik’s remarks amount to “publicly influencing and defending drug cartel and those accused in the drug case.”

The complaint further reads, “Such behaviour also encourages the youth to venture out in the wrong direction and the State through its minister is harassing a public servant and defending, encouraging and promoting the drug mafias and drug consumers and sending a wrong message to the society,” LiveLaw reported.

(With inputs from NDTV, LiveLaw and ANI.)