'Attempts To Silence Me,' Says Maha Minister Nawab Malik on Drugs, Wankhede Case

“When I started raising allegations against the (zonal) NCB chief, people I know told me to stop," Malik said.

“Some people said that matters relating to drugs involve money, goons and I could lose my life. Attempts were made to silence me,” the minister said.

(Photo: The Quint)

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Sunday, 31 October, said that attempts were made to silence him in the drugs-extortion-caste certificate case involving the Narcotic Control Bureau’s (NCB) Mumbai zone director Sameer Wankhede and Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.

“When I started raising allegations against the (zonal) NCB chief, people I know told me to stop," the minister said.

“They said that Shah Rukh Khan is being told that his son is trapped as he (Khan) speaks. My lawyer son was being brainwashed by other lawyers. He used to tell me to stop,” the spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party said.

“Some people said that matters relating to drugs involve money, goons and I could lose my life. Attempts were made to silence me. But I had said that we will take this to a logical end. If someone says they will kill Nawab Malik, then I'll die the day I have to,” Malik added.

He accused Wankhede of using forged documents to get a government job under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category. He also claimed that the senior NCB officer was a Muslim.

All the allegations made by the minister after the drugs-on-cruise case have been refuted by Wankhede.

Malik said that he stood by his words and his fight was against fraud and not religion or caste.

“I stand by my statement that he's (Sameer Wankhede) on post by forging SC certificate. He snatched away a poor SC man's rights. Fight against fraud not religion/caste. I urge Arun Haldar (vice chairman of National Commission for SC) to maintain his post's dignity,” he said.

Reacting to this, state social justice minister Dhananjay Munde has said if someone raised objections to the validity of the caste certificate of Wankhede, the matter would be probed.

Meanwhile, NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede's father, Dnyandev Wankhede and wife Kranti Redkar Wankhede met Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Sunday.

The Union minister said NCP leader Nawab Malik's allegations against Sameer Wankhede were baseless.

"Nawab Malik has made all sorts of baseless allegations against Sameer Wankhede. They are defaming our community. The name of Sameer's father is not Dawood. I have also seen all their documents," Athawale said.

The Union minister also said that Malik was levelling such allegations because his son-in-law was in jail in a drug case.

Aryan Khan, who was arrested along with Arbaaz Merchantt, Munmun Dhamecha, and several others late on the night of 2 October after the NCB conducted a raid on the cruise, was released from Arthur Road jail on Saturday, 30 October.

(With inputs from ANI)