Sameer Wankhede part of plot to 'kidnap' Aryan Khan, claims Nawab Malik

The Maharashtra minister alleged that BJP leader Mohit Bharatiya was the "mastermind" of the plot.

Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Sunday alleged that NCB's Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede was part of a plot to "kidnap" Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Speaking to reporters, Malik alleged that BJP leader Mohit Bharatiya was the "mastermind" of the plot.

He further claimed that Wankhede had met Bharatiya at a graveyard in suburban Oshiwara.

"But, because of his (Wankhede's) good luck, we couldn't get the footage since police's CCTV was not functioning. Hence, out of fear, Wankhede had lodged a false complaint that he was being stalked," Malik said.

Addressing the press conference. https://t.co/EJyi8ExRAH

— Nawab Malik نواب ملک नवाब मलिक (@nawabmalikncp) November 7, 2021

"The alleged cruise rave party was a plot to kidnap Aryan Khan for ransom, of which Mohit Bharatiya was the mastermind," the NCP leader alleged.

Aryan Khan was last month arrested following a raid led by Wankhede on a cruise ship from which drugs were allegedly seized.

Malik has repeatedly termed the cruise drugs bust case as "fake" and levelled a series of allegations against Wankhede. 

Accusing Wankhede of being involved in the plot, he claimed Bharatiya was a member of Wankhede's "private army".

Malik also appealed to Shah Rukh Khan to come forward and support his fight against injustice.

He accused Wankhede of creating fear among drug consumers while protecting peddlers and traffickers.

He claimed the trap to kidnap Aryan Khan was laid through Rishabh Sachdeva, the brother-in-law of Bharatiya.

"Rs 25 crore were sought, and the deal was finalised at Rs 18 crore...Rs 50 lakh were given. The deal got spoilt because the selfie of K P Gosavi (NCB's witness in the cruise drugs case) with Aryan, after his arrest, became viral," he claimed.

The minister further said there have been attempts to frighten Shah Rukh Khan that since he "gave an amount of Rs 50 lakh", he too becomes an accused.

"I appeal to him not to get scared. If your child is kidnapped and ransom is sought and the parent pays it, he is the victim and not the accused," Malik said.

Aryan Khan was taken to the cruise party by Pratik Gabba and Aamir Furniturewala, he claimed, adding that Sachdeva, Gabba and Furniturewala were let off by the NCB.

"Kashif Khan, an organiser of the cruise party, had tried hard to invite state minister Aslam Shaikh and children of our top ministers to come to the party," he claimed.

"Besides cases of Aryan Khan and Sameer Khan (Malik's son-in-law), all 26 cases (being probed by the NCB) should be given to the SIT for a probe. If there is an attempt to scare me by putting my son-in-law's case for re-examination, let me be clear that I am not scared," the minister said.

Malik's son-in-law was arrested in January this year by the NCB in an alleged drugs case and was granted bail in September.

Earlier on Saturday, Mohit Bharatiya had alleged that one Sunil Patil from Dhule, "who is closely associated with NCP leaders including former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh", is the mastermind of the cruise drug bust episode in which Aryan Khan is an accused.

Bharatiya also alleged that Deshmukh had met a drug peddler and Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's aide Chinku Pathan at the Sahyadri state guest house here when a strict lockdown was in force.

BIGGEST EXPOSE in the history of Maharashtra in this Press Conference
प्रेस वार्ता: महाराष्ट्र के इतिहास का सबसे बड़ा खुलासा https://t.co/avVBCnutBn — Mohit Bharatiya ( Mohit Kamboj ) (@mohitbharatiya_) November 6, 2021

Bharatiya, a former general secretary of Mumbai BJP, also claimed that Kiran Gosavi, a witness of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case, is an associate of Sunil Patil.

He claimed Patil had been in touch with Sam D'Souza and Gosavi since October 1 before the cruise ship was raided by the NCB.

Malik, however, termed the allegations an "unsuccessful attempt by (NCB Mumbai zonal director) Sameer Wankhede's private army to misguide and divert the attention from the truth".

An independent witness and Gosavi's bodyguard Prabhakar Sail had last month claimed that he had overheard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal over the phone with D'Souza, including Rs 8 crore for Sameer Wankhede after Aryan Khan was arrested.

Wankhede had denied all the allegations against him.