Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mohit Kamboj on Saturday claimed that Sunil Patil, allegedly an Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) worker, is behind the cruise ship drug bust “conspiracy” in Maharashtra.
At a press conference, Mr. Kamboj claimed that Mr. Patil coordinated the whole episode with Sam D’Souza, who is alleged to have brokered a pay-off deal.
“He (Patil) sent a WhatsApp message to Sam D’Souza on October 1 and told him that he had leads on 27 people who were going to consume illegal drugs at a cruise party,” claimed Mr. Kamboj, adding that Mr. Patil asked Mr. D’Souza to get a person named Kiran Gosavi to coordinate with the Narcotics Control Bureau for action in the case.
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Mr. Kamboj added that Mr. Patil is close to former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh’s son Hrishikesh. He also claimed that a drug peddler named Chinkoo Pathan had come to Sahyadri guest house in Mumbai to meet Mr. Deshmukh.
But NCP leader and State Minister Nawab Malik, when asked about the claims, rubbished them. “A member of Sameer Dawood Wankhede’s [NCB Zonal Director] private army just held a press conference to misguide and divert attention from the truth, albeit unsuccessfully. I will reveal the truth tomorrow,” he wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant tweeted a photo of Mr. Patil and Manish Bhanushali (a witness in the case), touching the feet of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take his blessings.
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Deputy Director General of the NCB Sanjay Singh has arrived in Mumbai to take charge of the investigation in six high-profile cases. While Mr. Sameer Wankhede will remain in the Mumbai office, the investigation of six cases, including that of Aryan Khan, will be conducted by the special teams of the NCB.
Mr. Singh told reporters that Mr. Wankhede will assist the special team. “I can give more information only after we get hold of all six cases,” said Mr. Singh.
