MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said "publicity-hungry" officers such as Sameer Wankhede are a "threat to the nation".
"Look at the case filed by Wankhede, who was then zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau. Immediately after the (cruise drugs) case was registered, several people remarked that it was a fake raid. Wankhede was responsible for sending an innocent Aryan Khan (actor Shah Rukh Khan's son) to jail. Ultimately, truth has prevailed," said Raut.
Other netas of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government too reacted, saying Wankhede's action appeared to be a "settling of personal scores" and exceeded his brief and that he must tender an apology to Aryan Khan's family.
NCP leader Nawab Malik's office tweeted now that Aryan Khan and five others have been given the clean chit, will NCB act against Sameer Wankhede, his team and the private part.
Malik, in judicial custody since the enforcement directorate initiated criminal proceedings against him, was the first to raise his voice against the raid. Then Malik had said it was a fake raid and even the witnesses produced by the agency were fake. NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said the NCB chargesheet has established beyond doubt that it was a fake raid. "Objections raised by our minister Nawab Malik have been found to be true. Witnesses in the case were directly associated with BJP and Wankhede succumbed to political pressure. Malik had raised a question mark over Wankhede's credibility and style of functioning. Today, Malik is paying the price for speaking the truth," said Tapase.
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said Aryan's arrest was pre-planned. "All-out attempts were made to defame Maharashtra and destabilise the democratically elected MVA government," he said. - Prafulla Marpakwar
