Mumbai drugs case: Sameer Wankhede raised private army to extort money, alleges Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik

Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik, who has been levelling various allegations against Wankhede since the Mumbai drugs-on-cruise case, has accused the latter of using a fake birth certificate to secure a government job.

Mumbai: The Mumbai drugs-on-cruise case took a new twist on Tuesday (November 2) as Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik alleged that Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede raised a private army that extorts money through frivolous drugs cases.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader told the media, "As per information available with me, as soon as Wankhede (Sameer Wankhede) joined this department, he raised his private army comprising Kiran Gosavi. Manish Bhanushali, Fletcher Patel, Adil Usmani and Sam D`Souza." 

"This private army extorts money in the garb of these small cases that are highlighted exponentially to frame people while the big cases of relevance go unnoticed," Malik added. 

Malik, who has been levelling various allegations against Wankhede since the Mumbai drugs-on-cruise case, has accused the latter of using a fake birth certificate to secure a government job.

Thousands of crores extorted Sushant Singh Rajput case: Nawab Malik

Nawab Malik also questioned the drug case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and said that it`s been 14 months but the case is not concluded yet and that thousands of crores have been extorted in this time span. 

Addressing media persons, He said "Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone etc were called in the case pertaining to drugs. Not even a single charge sheet has been filed in the case. According to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, a charge sheet is supposed to be filed within six months of the case. However, neither a charge sheet had been filed, nor any arrest had been made in the case. Extortion from Bollywood people was done in the Maldives when Sameer Wankhede visited there."

The NCP leader said, "It is quite evident that thousands of crores have been extorted in the time span of 14 months," alleging "I would like to bring attention towards the recent case where 51 tonnes of Poppy seeds are kept at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for the last 15 days, why the case is not registered ?"

He further said, "I ask DRI why have you not registered a case. In the last 10-12 days, one case of drugs came that was highlighted after eight days."

Highlighting that big drug cases are being unnoticed, he said, "Mundra port drug case was not highlighted. The whole drugs game is not running without any political protection."

Sameer Wankhede wore Rs 70,000 shirt: Nawab Malik

Attacking Wankhede for his lavish lifestyle, Nawab Malik accused Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director of extorting crores and using uber-expensive clothes beyond the reach of an honest and upright officer.

He said, "He has worn clothes worth over Rs 10 crores in the past few days. An upright officer doesn`t wear a trouser worth lakhs of rupees and shirts of over Rs 50 thousand, shoes worth Rs two lakhs. I wish that all upright and honest officers get the same lifestyle".

Malik said, "He wears so costly clothes that he has surpassed Modi ji himself," adding "People have objected to my criticism of Wankhede. I quote Justice Deepak of the Supreme court who says that `If dissent and right to criticism are not preserved it will be a lawless situation." 

Malik had alleged that Wankhede was born a Muslim but he forged documents, including a caste certificate, to pass off as a Scheduled Caste (SC) person to get recruitment under quota after clearing the UPSC exams.

Earlier, a Mumbai-based Advocate Kanishk Jayant had filed a complaint and alleged criminal conspiracy by the five persons - KP Gosavi, Manish Bhanushali, Amir Furniturewala, Prateek Gaba and Rushab Sachdeva- and requested the Police Commissioner Nagrale to file FIR for extortion and their suspicious role in Cordelia Cruise Drug Case. 

Malik, who is the NCP spokesperson, also hit out at former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, rubbishing the claim that he has links with the underworld. 

"If that was the case, why was no probe initiated against me when you (Fadnavis) were the CM," he said, questioning Fadnavis for not acting against him despite being the chief minister of the state for five years. 

After Malik sought to link Fadnavis and his banker-singer wife Amruta with an alleged drug peddler, the BJP leader on Monday said he would expose his underworld links after Diwali. 

(With Agency Inputs)