NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who has been facing allegations of extortion following the arrest of Aryan Khan, found support from a minister in the Narendra Modi government. Aryan Khan, son of movie star Shah Rukh Khan, was released from jail on Saturday, two days after the Bombay High Court granted him bail in a drugs case.
The father and wife of Sameer Wankhede met Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale in Mumbai on Sunday.
Athawale is the leader of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), a constituent of the NDA.
Over the past week, Nawab Malik, a minister in the Maharashtra government, had claimed repeatedly Sameer Wankhede had fraudulently obtained a caste certificate to qualify for the civil services. Malik had alleged Sameer Wankhede was born a Muslim. The BJP has alleged Nawab Malik was targeting Sameer Wankhede as the NCB officer had arrested the former's son-in-law.
Athawale was quoted by ANI as saying "On behalf of RPI, I'd like to tell Nawab Malik to stop conspiring to defame Sameer and his family. If he says that Sameer is a Muslim then why is he, a Muslim too, levelling allegations? Republican Party stands with them. Sameer won't be harmed."
Athawale said the allegations against Sameer Wankhede were baseless.
Dyandev Wankhede, Sameer’s father, told mediapersons, "Nawab Malik says that we took away a dalit's rights. We ourselves are dalit. If you have to say anything, go to court. Just because my son arrested his son-in-law, he's levelling allegations. My son or I never converted, allegations are false."
Kranti Redkar, Sameer’s wife, said, "… He's (Athawale) standing with us as he cares for every dalit. So far, Nawab Malik's allegations have proven to be a lie."
Interestingly, Malik told a press conference on Sunday that attempts were made to "silence him" following the Aryan Khan case. "When I started (raising allegations against Sameer Wankhede), people I know told me to stop. 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," Malik was quoted as saying by ANI.
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Malik added, "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."
On Saturday, Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde said his department could probe allegations of Sameer Wankhede obtaining a caste certificate illegally if a complaint was received.
