On Sunday, October 31, the vice-chairperson of the National SC commission Arun Halder had visited NCB officer Sameer Wankhede’s home following the officer’s complaint of harassment against Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.
Following Halder’s visit, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik had again launched his rant against the officer. Speaking to the media, Malik stated that Arun Halder giving a ‘clean chit’ to Wankhede was wrong and he should have conducted an investigation first and submitted a detailed report.
Malik added that he will complain against Halder to the president. Further, Malik stated that a person named Jaydeep Rana, currently in jail in connection to a drug trafficking case has links with former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
One Jaydeep Rana currently in jail in connection with a drug trafficking case has relations with former CM Devendra Fadnavis. He was financial head of famous River song by former CM’s wife Amrita Fadnavis: Drugs business in the state grew under his tenure: Nawab Malik, NCP
— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2021
Malik stated that Jaydeep Rana was the financial head of the ‘famous river song’ by the former CM’s wife Amruta Fadnavis. He also added that the ‘drug business’ grew in Maharashtra under Devendra Fadnavis rule.
Taking to Twitter, Malik shared a screenshot from YouTube, showing Jaydeep Rana in the credits for the ‘Mumbai River Anthem’ released by Amruta Fadnavis a couple of years ago.
Details of 'River Song' which shows Jaydeep Rana as Finance Head.
— Nawab Malik نواب ملک नवाब मलिक (@nawabmalikncp) November 1, 2021
Song sung by Ms. Amruta Fadnavis
Video shows Devendra Fadnavis and Sudhir Mungatiwar as actorshttps://t.co/LddkleoTaQ pic.twitter.com/lWnq2d4wF6
Nawab Malik shared some photographs, saying they are of Jaydeep Rana posing with the former Maha CM and his wife. Malik also stated that another person close to the Fadnavis couple named Neeraj Gunde used to visit the NCB office often. Malik asserted that the cruise ship raid case was ‘fake’.
National SC commission VC says state can conduct a probe if needed
Arun Halder had reportedly examined some documents and had stated later that the officer belongs to the SC Mahar community and the attacks against him and his family are wrong. Halder had added, “In the central government, caste verification is not mandatory, but the state government is empowered to probe into the caste certificate of a resident of Maharashtra.”
Maharashtra’s Social Justice minister Dhananjay Munde had also confirmed that if the competent authority receives a complaint about forgery in the caste certificate, it will be investigated as per rules.
It is notable here that NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik had been levelling continuous allegations against NCB officer Sameer Wankhede after Aryan Khan was arrested in the cruise ship drug case. Malik has stated that Wankhede is a Muslim and he had forged his caste certificate to show himself as an SC to get the job under quota. Malik had also been sharing the Wankhede family’s personal photographs and documents in the public to fan public opinion against the officer. He had also accused Wankhede of taking bribes.
It is notable here that Malik’s son in law Sameer Khan was previously arrested in a drug case under Wankhede and had spent several months in jail.
