Was your kin involved in drugs biz: Nawab Malik asks Sameer Wankhede

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik questioned whether Sameer Wankhede’s sister-in-law, Harshada Dinanath Redkar, was involved in the drugs business as he launched a fresh attack on the NCB officer

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik launched a fresh attack on Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Monday when he asked if the officer’s sister-in-law was involved in “drug business” and shared screenshots of a case pending against her in a Pune court.

Mumbai zonal director of the NCB, Sameer Wankhede, arrives at the NCB office in Mumbai. Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik has alleged a link between Wankhede’s sister-in-law and the drugs business. (PTI/File)

In a tweet on Monday Malik shared screenshots of a 2008 case registered under Section 3458 of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in which Harshada Dinanath Redkar was shown listed as “respondent and advocate” along with two other persons.

The screenshots were from ECourts Services, a government portal which lists the cases before the sessions courts, city civil courts, and the magistrate courts across the country.

“Sameer Dawood Wankhede, is your sister-in-law Harshada Dinanath Redkar involved in the drug business? You must answer because her case is pending before the Pune court. Here is the proof,” Malik tweeted.

The regular criminal case is before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in Pune. The first hearing, according to the website was held on February 18, 2008. The next date of hearing is listed as March 18, 2022. The state of Maharashtra is listed as the petitioner in the case, which indicates that the state has filed a regular criminal case against the three respondents.

Wankhede’s wife Kranti Redkar responded to Malik’s tweet stating that her husband had no relation to the case and that the matter was sub-judice.

“I know you have lot of questions regarding a tweet Mr Nawab Malik has put on his Twitter handle. I would like to say that my sister was and continues to be a victim in this case. According to our legal team, it is not prudent to comment as the matter is sub-judice. My sister is going to tackle Mr Malik’s tweet legally. Shri Sameer Wankhede has no relation to this case whatsoever,” Kranti said in a tweet on Monday.

Wankhede said that was in inducted into the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 2008, and only married Kranti, Harshada’s sister, in 2017.

The Bombay high court on Monday directed Malik to submit an affidavit in response to a defamation suit filed by Wankhede’s father, Dnyandev and posted the matter for hearing on November 10.

Separately, the metropolitan magistrate’s court on Monday issued notice to Malik on a criminal defamation complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary Mohit Kamboj. The court noted that prima facie Malik’s statements harmed the complainant’s reputation.

In the past month Malik, a state minister from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has levelled serious allegations against Wankhede and the NCB over discrepancies in the investigation of a drug raid, led by Wankhede, on a cruise ship on October 2, which led to the arrest of 20 persons, including Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan (23).

Last month, Malik claimed that Wankhede had forged a caste certificate to get a position in the IRS as a candidate from the Scheduled Caste (SC) category. He also claimed that the Wankhedes were Muslim, and shared photos of Sameer Wankhede’s first wedding which was conducted as a ‘Nikah’ ceremony. Wankhede and Dnyandev, a former police officer, denied the allegations.

On Sunday, Malik held a press conference during which he claimed that Wankhede was part of a plot to kidnap Aryan for ransom, along with Kamboj (also known as Mohit Bharatiya). Malik claimed that Kamboj and Wankhede came up with the plot with the help of Kamboj’s brother-in-law, Rishab Sachdeva.

Kamboj filed a defamation complaint on October 26 in which he stated that Malik had “purposefully and intentionally defamed” him and his brother-in-law Rishab Sachdeva during a press conference held on October 9.

Dnyandev filed a ₹1.25 crore civil defamation suit against Wankhede on Sunday and sought a permanent injunction restraining Malik and others “acting under his instructions” from publishing, writing or speaking in the media about the family.

On Saturday, Kamboj had held a press conference claiming that an NCP worker named Sunil Patil was the “mastermind” behind the drug raid on October 2. The following day, Malik levelled a similar accusation against Kamboj and claimed that the latter was part of Wankhede’s “private army” which regularly extorted money from people. He said that the raid was “fake”.

Malik has also questioned the presence of Kiran Gosavi –who has several cheating cases against him – as well as BJP office-bearer Manish Bhanushali as independent witnesses in the drug raid case.

The raid on the cruise ship Cordelia led to the recovery of 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of Mephedrone, 21 grams of Charas, and 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy) and a sum of ₹1.33 lakh. Aryan’s friend, Arbaaz Merchant was found carrying 6 grams of charas in a plastic pouch tucked away in his shoe.

Most of the 20 persons arrested, including Aryan and Merchant, are out on bail.

Maharashtra textiles minister Aslam Shaikh on Monday clarified that he too was invited to the cruise party by Fashion TV head Kashiff Khan, but that he did not know him personally.

Shaikh was responding to the remarks made by Malik on Sunday who claimed that Shaikh, Mumbai’s guardian minister was invited by Khan, who “insisted” he join the party. Malik said on Sunday that there was a conspiracy to frame Shaikh and children of political leaders from the ruling party in a bid to defame the government.

“I was invited by Kashiff, but I do not know him. He didn’t speak to me nor have I spoken to him. I do get invitations for many events as the guardian minister, this was one of them. Even as a port minister, I did not have any information about the party. I would have informed the police had I got it. The permission to the cruise was not given by department. It is the prerogative of the Centre,” Shaikh said.

“There have been attempt to destabilise the state government since its formation. I do not know if there was any attempt through this particular case. If it was so, it will come to the fore in the investigation that is underway. The Aryan Khan case is being blown up on a large scale but nobody is talking about the ₹20,000-crore drugs seized from a Gujarat port [Mundra, in September]. Secondly, BJP leaders in the state have been speaking in favour of NCB and are shielding the agency against the allegations levelled against it. Why should any political party defend any agency?” Shaikh asked.