Union Minister Ramdas Athawale extends support to NCB's Sameer Wankhede, asks Nawab Malik to stop 'conspiring'

The Republican Party of India (A) chief said that Wankhede is a Hindu Dalit and a follower of BR Ambedkar.

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy between Nawab Malik and Sameer Wankhede, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday (November 1, 2021) extended his support to Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) Mumbai zonal director and claimed that he is a Hindu Dalit and a follower of BR Ambedkar.

The Republican Party of India (A) chief also asked Malik to refrain from 'conspiring' to defame Wankhede and his family members. Athawale's remarks came after Wankhede's wife Kranti Redkar and her father-in-law Dnyandev Wankhede called on him on Sunday.

"I have gone through the documents. Sameer Wankhede is a Hindu dalit. He is a follower of Babasaheb Ambedkar. He is not Muslim," the Union Minister said.

"If he (Malik) says that Sameer is a Muslim, then why he, who is also a Muslim, is levelling these allegations? My party stands with Sameer's family. Sameer won't be harmed," Athawale added.

This is to be noted that the NCB official is currently facing a vigilance probe after an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise case, in which Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is one of the accused, claimed of overhearing a discussion of a Rs 25 crore pay-off, including Rs 8 crore for Sameer Wankhede.

Malik, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and a Maharashtra minister, has also levelled a slew of allegations against Wankhede including that he has forged his caste certificate and other documents to secure a job from the SC quota after clearing the UPSC examination as an IRS officer.

He has been claiming that Wankhede is a Muslim by birth.

Nawab Malik's allegations are baseless

After meeting Athawale, Sameer Wankhede's wife Kranti Redkar iterated that Malik's allegations against her family are 'baseless' and asked what he has got to do with someone's husband being a Hindu, Muslim or Christian.

On being asked about her husband's caste, Redkar said that her family was fed up with the 'harassment'.

Malik had claimed that Wankhede got married to his first wife Dr Shabana Qureshi in 2006 as per Muslim rituals. Redkar, who married Wankhede in 2017 after he had divorced Qureshi, claimed that Malik was 'fooling' media persons.

"My family is fed up with all these things. What you all people have got to do with the private life of Sameer Wankhede?" asked Redkar.

"Why is such a big politician harassing an officer, just because that officer is not corrupt? We have shown all documents of Sameer Wankhede to Athawale which proves that he was born as a Hindu. He had married a Muslim woman (Qureshi) by following rituals of that community for the sake of his mother's happiness," Redkar, an actress by profession, added.

This is noteworthy that Malik's son-in-law was also arrested by the NCB in January this year in an alleged drugs case. He was granted bail last month.

Caste panel official backs Sameer Wankhede

Arun Halder, vice chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), also came out in support of Sameer Wankhede on Sunday and said that although the officer is doing good work and making his department proud, a minister has launched a personal attack on him and his family members.

Halder also called for a government probe into finding out why the minister was attacking the officer and his family. He also visited Wankhede's residence. 

Talking to reporters later, Halder said, "One officer is doing his duty and making the department proud, so how can a minister personally attack him and his family members? The government should carry out an investigation in why he is doing so."

Family's safety in jeopardy

Wankhede's wife Kranti Redkar on Sunday has said that the 'safety of her husband and family is in jeopardy' and asked for security. She claimed that three people conducted a recce of the house some days back and that these people are very 'dangerous'. 

"We will provide the CCTV footage to the police. Security should be provided to the family. My children are very young, the safety is very important in that perspective. When we (Sameer and I) are not home who will take care of their safety?" she asked.

Earlier on October 2, an NCB team busted an alleged drugs party on a ship, which was on its way to Goa at mid-sea. A total of 20 people, including Aryan Khan, have been named so far in the case. 

(With agency inputs)