Aryan Khan drug case: NCP leader accuses NCB's Sameer Wankhede of extortion

Mumbai - Agency has started probing allegations that Wankhede was part of an extortion racket

The high-profile case involving Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan is now revolving around two personalities: Nawab Malik, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Sameer Wankhede, the zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

While Aryan’s fate continues to hang in the balance, the two individuals are engaged in a war of words that continues to complicate the case.

Aryan was arrested on October 3 even though he was not in possession of any drugs.

The youngster’s bail plea continues to be struck down in the lower court, while NCB tries to block any move to release him.

Interestingly, Nawab Malik (who is also a minister in Maharashtra) is indirectly involved in the ongoing narcotics controversy, as his son-in-law, Sameer Khan was released on bail last month, just days before the arrest of Aryan.

Sameer Khan was arrested in January by the NCB for alleged possession of drugs.

The NCP spokesperson has dragged in the names of some BJP leaders as well in the case, which is fast turning up into a battle between politicians.

While the NCP runs a coalition government in Maharashtra (along with the Shiv Sena and the Congress), the Narcotics Control Bureau is under the control of the BJP-led government at the centre.

Malik has accused Sameer Wankhede of illegally tapping telephones in Mumbai and acting at the behest of opponents of the state government.

Malik accused Wankhede of extortion and said that the NCB official will lose his job within a year. On Monday, Malik posted Wankhede's birth certificate on Twitter, saying "Sameer Dawood Wankhede's fraud started from here."

Meanwhile, the NCB started probing allegations that Sameer Wankhede, was part of a Dh12.2 million extortion racket after the arrest of Aryan Khan.

Nawab Malik has accused Sameer Wankhede of being sent to Mumbai by the central government after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput last year.

Rhea Chakraborty, Rajput’s girlfriend, was implicated in a fake case by the NCB, Malik alleged.

However, NCB’s Wankhede says he is shocked by Malik’s ‘slanderous’ allegations and says his family members, including sister and deceased mother, are being targeted by the NCP leader.

• India