Maharashtra / Malik asks Wankhede if his sister-in-law is involved in drug business, he responds

Mumbai: In a fresh attack on NCB’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Monday asked if the officer’s sister-in-law was involved in “drug business” and claimed a case against her was pending in a Pune court.

However, an official from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said Wankhede was not even in service when the alleged case took place.

Malik in a Twitter post said, “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.”

The NCP leader also posted a snapshot of a document related to that case.

Reacting to it, an NCB official said Wankhede joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in September 2008, while the case (pertaining to his sister-in-law) was registered in January 2008.

The official also said Wankhede married Kranti Redkar, the sister of Harshada Redkar, in 2017.

“When is Malik is going to stop attacks against women? As far as the case pertaining to Harshada Dinanath Redkar is concerned, it is a very old case and is in court. Wankhede has nothing to do with Harshada’s case,” the official said.

“Why is Malik making such allegations which have no credibility?” the official asked.

An NCB team led by Wankhede last month conducted a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs onboard.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and 19 others were later arrested in connection with the cruise drugs case.

Malik has repeatedly termed the cruise drugs case as “fake” and levelled several allegations against Wankhede, including that he forged his caste certificate and other documents to secure government job.

Wankhede has denied the allegations levelled against him.