The political slanging match over the Mumbai cruise drug case continued unabated with Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Sunday accusing senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik of deliberately trying to defame Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede and refuting Mr. Malik’s allegations as ‘baseless’.
“Mr. Wankhede is an Ambedkarite and is from the Dalit community. The Republican Party of India (RPI-A) firmly stands by him. Nawab Malik should stop hurling such personal allegations against Mr. Wankhede and his family,” said Mr. Athawale, who is the president of the RPI (A).
He was speaking after Mr. Wankhede’s wife, Kranti Redkar, and his father Dnyandev Kachru Wankhede had met him to seek his support against Mr. Malik’s allegations.
The NCP Minister had earlier alleged that Mr. Wankhede was born a Muslim and that he forged documents, including a caste certificate, as a Scheduled Caste person to avail himself of the “recruitment under quota” benefits after clearing the Union Public Service Commission exams.
Mr. Malik has been casting aspersions on Mr. Wankhede and his probe methods since the latter led the raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 in which the NCB claimed to have allegedly recovered drugs. Among the 20 persons arrested during the raid were Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, who has since been released on bail.
Active and able officer
Describing Mr. Wankhede as an “extremely active and able officer” who went about his job regardless the consequences, Mr. Athawale said: “If Aryan Khan had indeed not consumed drugs, then why did the court take such a long time in granting him bail?”
Mr. Athawale said he needed to take a stand as a leader of the Dalit community as he felt that injustice was being done to Mr. Wankhede and his family by Mr. Malik’s allegations.
“Nawab Malik’s allegations have no basis. In fact…let him try and move the court if he thinks otherwise. The name of Sameer Wankhede’s father is not Dawood. I have also seen all their documents…Malik’s continuous stream of allegations tantamounts to defamation of the entire SC community,” Mr. Athawale said, adding that Mr. Malik was levelling these allegations merely because his son-in-law had been in jail in an alleged drug-related case.
