'What Nawab Malik said': Sharad Pawar on allegations against Sameer Wankhede
Nawab Malik was harassed for speaking the truth but what he said about Sameer Wankhede stands true, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said whatever his party leader Nawab Malik alleged against Sameer Wankhede is turning out to be true as the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau is now facing a CBI probe. Nawab Malik has been in jail since February 23, 2022, in an ED case linked to Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. In 2021, as the drugs on cruise case was being probed, Nawab Malik made several allegations of irregularities against Sameer Wankhede. “What Malik used to allege is turning out to be true. He has been harassed for speaking the truth,” Sharad Pawar said.
'Why?': Bombay High Court questions Sameer Wankhede over release of 'SRK chats' - Report
Nawab Malik's son-in-law was arrested by Sameer Wankhede
During his tenure at the NCB, Sameer Wankhede headed several high-profile cases and interrogated several Bollywood celebrities in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput-Rhea Chakraborty drugs case. His last high-profile case was the Cordellio cruise case in which he arrested Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan.
During the probe, Nawab Malik made several explosive claims regarding Sameer Wankhede's religion, caste, first marriage etc.
Nawab Malik's son-in-law Sameer Wankhede was also arrested by NCB in connection with a drugs case and was granted bail after he spent eight months in prison. There was no evidence against Sameer Khan and Nawab Malik said the NCB tried to pass off 200kg of herbal tobacco as ganja.
Nawab Malik claimed Wankhede extorted money from many Bollywood stars during the pandemic.
The now jailed NCP leader alleged that Sameer Wankhede was raised as a Muslim and his full name is Sameer Dawood Wankhede but he forged documents to get a job in the Indian Revenue Services under the Scheduled Caste category. Malik also said that Wankhede's first wedding was according to Muslim rituals.
Sameer Wankhede booked in ₹25 crore bribery case
The CBI has booked Sameer Wankhede in an alleged bribery case of ₹25 crore which has its links to the Aryan Khan drugs case. Through KP Gosavi, an independent witness, Sameer Wankhede allegedly demanded ₹25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan to not press charges against his son. Wankhede, however, dismissed all the allegations and produced purported chats with Shah Rukh Khan in his defence.