Wankhede files defamation complaint against Nawab Malik

Former Mumbai zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation complaint against former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, based on which the city police have registered a case against the NCP leader, an official said.

Wankhede lodged the complaint on Sunday after getting a clean chit from the Mumbai district caste certificate verification committee of the Maharashtra Social Justice Department, following a probed for allegedly submitting a fake caste certificate to get a government job.

Malik had alleged that Wankhede submitted a fake caste certificate to get a government job.

“Sameer Wankhede approached Goregaon police station and lodged the complaint against Nawab Malik, who is behind bars in an alleged money laundering case,” the official said on Sunday.

“Police on Sunday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Malik for defamation on the complaint lodged by the former NCB officer,” the official said. The district caste certificate verification committee in its order on Friday said the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer was not a Muslim by birth and it has been proven that he belonged to Mahar caste, which is a Scheduled Caste (SC).

Complaints filed by Malik and others regarding the caste claim of Wankhede and the religion of the caste certificate are not substantiated. Hence, the complaints are being rejected due to lack of facts in the complaint, the caste committees order had stated.

After receiving the committees order, Wankhede went to the police station and filed the complaint against Malik.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against the politician under Indian Penal Code Sections 500 (punishment for defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory) and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the official said.

“Goregaon divisional ACP will conduct a probe into the case,” he said.

Wankhede had come into limelight following the NCBs high-profile raids in October 2021 on a Mumbai cruise after which the agency arrested actor Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan and 19 others, and claimed to have also seized some narcotics. The NCB had later given a clean chit to Aryan Khan.

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