Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. Malik alleged that Wankhede and his family were in the Maldives when all the celebrities were in the Maldives during the COVID-19 period.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra minister shared pictures of Wankhede's family from the Maldives.

Training his guns again on Wankhede, Malik claimed the officer was specifically brought into the agency by the central government after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year.

He also alleged that Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty was implicated in a "fake case" by the NCB. "After Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, Sameer Wankhede was transferred to the NCB and Rhea Chakraborty was arrested immediately," Nawab Malik said.

"Attempts were made to implicate certain people in false cases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire film industry was in Maldives. What was the officer and his family doing in Maldives and Dubai? This has to be clarified by Sameer Wankhede," the NCP spokesperson said.

"We demand that he clarify whether he was in Dubai," Malik said. “Was his family there in Maldives when the entire film industry was in Maldives? What was the reason behind them going there?” he asked. "We are very clear. All this vasuli (extortion) took place in Maldives and Dubai and I will release those photos," Malik said.

Wankhede supervised a raid on a cruise liner off the Mumbai coast earlier this month that led to the alleged recovery of drugs, following which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and some other people were arrested by the NCB.

Malik has repeatedly claimed the case related to the alleged recovery of banned drugs from the ship was "fake" and arrests were made just on the basis of WhatsApp chats.

The NCP leader's son-in-law Sameer Khan was also arrested b in a drugs case in January this year and he was granted bail last month.

(With inputs from Agencies)