Mumbai: Former zonal director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, seeking permission to hand over the investigation of the atrocities case against ACP leader Nawab Malik to an independent agency like CBI.
Wankhede, Additional Commissioner in the Directorate General of Taxpayers Services and a member of the Mahar Scheduled Caste, has alleged in the petition that he and his family have faced mental stress and humiliation due to police inaction in the case.
An Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official registered a case against Malik under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Anti-Atrocities) Act at Goregaon police station in August 2022.
The complaint alleges that Malik made derogatory comments against Wankhede and his family members on the basis of their caste in interviews and on social media. Malik has not been arrested yet in this case nor has any chargesheet been filed against him.
Wankhede had claimed in the petition filed in the High Court on November 20 that the police have not yet started the investigation and the case should be handed over to the CBI. Dada also demanded a court monitored investigation. The application is likely to be heard on November 28. The petition states that the petitioner and his family members have suffered continuous torment and humiliation due to the lasadia account of the police machinery.
It was further reported that in 2021, Wankhede’s father filed a defamation case against Malik and the court ordered Malik not to make any further statements, although Malik reportedly continued to make derogatory remarks.
It has been said in the petition that the use of political force is affecting the police machinery and hindering the investigation. Malik had given the statement after his son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested in a drug case in 2021. Earlier, in October 2021, the officer had filed a complaint with the Scheduled Caste Commission to take action against Malik.
Wankhede became the center of controversy after the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in connection with the alleged seizure of drugs from the Cordelia cruise ship in Mumbai. After three weeks, Aryan got bail from the High Court.