Mumbai: A day after NCP Minister Nawab Malik accused the Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of extortion, he received a threat call on Friday. He claimed that the call came from Rajasthan, adding that he had filed a formal complaint over the matter.
Malik told The Free Press Journal, “The phone call was received at home by the operator from the police department. The caller wanted me to stop targeting Wankhede.”
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said he would speak to Malik and also to the Mumbai police about the threat call. He assured that police would take necessary action. The government has already upgraded Malik’s security cover to Y-plus.
Malik has been firing salvos against the NCB and Wankhede after the Cordelia Cruises drug bust case, for registering fake cases in a bid to hog the limelight. He had also targeted Wankhede’s family.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire film industry was in the Maldives. What were Sameer Wankhede and his family doing in the Maldives and Dubai?” Malik asked. He alleged that “attempts were made to implicate certain people in false cases and that ‘vasuli’ (extortion) took place in Maldives and Dubai.” Malik released purported photos of Wankhede and his family.
However, Wankhede denied Malik’s allegations. “It is an absolute lie. I went to the Maldives with my children for a vacation. I took proper permission from the competent authority for the same. I didn’t meet anyone and I don’t want to give any further clarification on these kinds of accusations. In December, I was in Mumbai, at the time when he said I was in Dubai. This can be investigated,” he added.
Malik had earlier claimed that the alleged recovery of banned drugs from the cruise ship off the coast was ‘fake’ and the arrests were made just on the basis of WhatsApp chats. However, Wankhede and the NCB have claimed that everything was done legally.
