'NCB's Falsehood Doesn't Seem to Stop', Says Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik

He said on Sunday that the NCB was asking witnesses to sign back-dated panchnama papers.

Maharashtra Minister for Minority Development and NCP leader, Nawab Malik.

(Photo:Sandeep Mahankal/IANS)

Maharashtra Cabinet minister Nawab Malik alleged on Sunday, 2 January, that an officer from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) got a witness to sign back-dated panchnama papers pertaining to a case, and said that bogus cases were made to falsely implicate people.

"The NCB's falsehood doesn't seem to stop...the way officers have made bogus cases by getting signatures from witnesses on blank papers, implicating people in false cases. And now, to set the cases right, they are calling the panchs to sign on back-dated panchnama papers."

Nawab Malik, Maharashtra cabinet minister

Malik's son-in-law, Sameer Khan, is involved in an ongoing drugs case being heard by the Bombay High Court. He was arrested last year. These comments were made a few days after the NCB approached the court to cancel the bail granted to Malik's son-in-law.

When news agency PTI tried to contact an NCB official, they denied the allegations and called them "false and baseless."

Two audio clips were also made available by Malik, with a supposed conversation between an NCB officer and a witness or panch named Maddy, who was being called to sign back-dated papers.

The second audio clip is supposedly a phone call between the panch and Sameer Wankhede, NCB's Mumbai zonal director, whose tenure with the NCB ended on 31 December.

Malik was also quoted as saying that a very senior BJP leader in Maharashtra had lobbied with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for the extension of Wankhede's tenure.

An NCB official confirmed that Maddy, the person who is heard speaking in the audio clip, was a witness in an ongoing case, the PTI reported. However, he also said that there was nothing unusual about calling a witness while filing a chargesheet. "We have not threatened anyone for anything," he said.

Malik told PTI that his son-in-law was being singled out, but that he would continue to "expose the falsehood" of NCB officials. He also said that the "way PR agencies circulated unsigned papers of the NCB reflects the malafide intention behind this."

"The agency has the right to appeal in a higher court if it is not satisfied with the order, but appeals are pending in (actor) Rhea and Showik Chakraborty's case (a drugs case linked to death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput). It would have been better had the papers (pertaining to Sameer Khan's case) come (in public domain) from the court," he said.

Nawab Malik, Maharashtra cabinet minister

During Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan arrest in the drugs case, Malik had called NCB's case "fake."

Demanding the arrest of the officers involved in the alleged extortion case, the Shiv Sena had also praised Malik, crediting his efforts as the reason behind the revelations against the NCB.

(With Inputs from PTI.)