Narcotics Control Bureau chief investigating officer Sameer Wankhede has come out against a string of allegations raise by Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, including allegations of "forgery" on one of his certificates.
Wankhede claimed he was being unfairly targeted and threatened by powerful people who had a vested interest in the drugs case involving Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Malik had recently tweeted an image, supposedly of a document related to Wankhede's birth, with the caption: "The forgery began from here." Speaking to various media, Wankhede said that "filth" was being spread about him because his deceased mother, whose name appears on the certificate, was a Muslim.
"This is a shoddy attempt to bring in things that are unrelated to (the drugs case). My mother was Muslim... (why) does he want to bring my dead mother into this?" he asked. "...To verify my caste and background anyone can visit my native place and verify my descent from my great-grandfather. But he should not spread this filth like this. I will fight all this legally," the officer said adding that he did not want to comment any more in public.
Sameer Wankhede has written to the Mumbai Police seeking protection after a string of allegations by minister Malik which included vague hints that Wankhede may lose his job. Malik, a prominent critic of the current investigation into Aryan Khan, had claimed that Wankhede was using the NCB to chase celebrities and put pressure on Bollywood for extortion purposes and that he had made deals with several Bollywood celebrities in the Maldives.
"They (BJP) have a puppet - Wankhede. He raises bogus cases... I challenge Wankhede he'll lose his job in a year... We have evidence of bogus cases," Mr Malik had been quoted by news agency ANI.