Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik today accused the Narcotics Control Bureau's zonal director Sameer Wankhede and his family of obtaining two separate certificates for his mother after her death in 2015, one mentioning her as a Muslim and the other as a Hindu.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai today morning, Nawab Malik said Sameer Wankhede's mother Zaheda died on April 16, 2015, and a certificate identifying her as a Muslim woman was taken to the cemetery in Mumbai's Oshiwara for her burial.
"But the next day, her family procured another death report that mentioned her to be from the Hindu religion," he said.
The minister also posted these certificates in support of his claim on his Twitter handle before talking to the media.
"How can a family have a dual identity? I am speaking in public about this after taking the verified documents from the Mumbai civic body," the NCP leader alleged.
Nawab Malik has been accusing that Sameer Wankhede, although born a Muslim, had secured a central government job by claiming to be from the Scheduled Caste category. Sameer Wankhede has, however, denied all allegations levelled against him.
The minister has been attacking Sameer Wankhede after the Narcotics Control Bureau's raid on a cruise party last month that led to the arrest of around 20 people, including actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan. Aryan Khan and a few other accused were later released on bail.
The minister said that since October 6, he has been "exposing" Sameer Wankhede over how he had "kidnapped" Aryan Khan for ransom and fixed a deal of Rs 25 crore and settled for Rs 18 crore, had made changes in his birth and school leaving certificates, got permit license despite being a minor.
He said that if anybody undergoes a religious conversion, it should be published in a gazette, which was not done in this case.
On Thursday, Mr Malik's advocate told the Bombay High Court that the minister will not post any tweets or make any public statements against Sameer Wankhede, his father or any of their family members till December 9. The assurance came after the High Court asked the minister whether he has lodged a complaint with the caste scrutiny committee regarding his allegations against Wankhede's caste credentials. If the minister has not filed a complaint yet, what were Mr Malik's intentions behind the "media publicity", which it said does not befit a minister, the court further said.
