Sameer Wankhede, the ex-Narcotics Control Bureau (ex-NCB) Zonal Director, who was being probed for allegedly submitting a fake caste certificate to land the job, was given a 'clean chit' by the caste scrutiny committee on Saturday, 13 August.
The order reads that Wankhede was not a Muslim by birth and it has been proven that they belonged to the Mahar caste, which is a Scheduled Caste, news agency ANI reported.
Reacting to the 'clean chit' given, Wankhede said, "The Caste Scrutiny Committee in Maharashtra has scrapped the complaints filed against us. All the factual documents that we had submitted are valid."
Allegations by Nawab Malik
The NCB, led by Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, had arrested Nawab Malik's son-in-law Samir Khan in January 2021, catapulting the NCP leader and minister into controversy's lap.
Months later, when Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested in the drugs-on-cruise case in October 2021, Nawab Malik made a series of verbal jabs against Sameer Wankhede, who was heading the investigation of the case at the time.
Among some of the main accusations made by the state minister were:
The NCB had implicated his son-in-law in a fake drugs case.
Wankhede and his wife were in Maldives and Dubai at the same time as the film industry, where 'extortion' deals were made.
Despite being born Muslim, Wankhede claimed he belonged to a Scheduled Caste and used forgery to acquire a government job.
Wankhede ran a liquor bar in Navi Mumbai, which violated the Union government's service rules.
Wankhede has been facing action for a "shoddy" probe into the case, as per sources quoted by NDTV.
He was also being interrogated for submitting a fake caste certificate to land the job, for which he has now been given a clean chit.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)