This Article is From Oct 27, 2021

Cruise Party Cleared By Centre: Maharashtra Minister On Drugs Row

Nawab Malik also said if the Narcotics Control Bureau Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede's birth certificate, which the minister had posted online to claim the official forged documents to secure job, turns out false, then he will resign from his ministerial post and retire as a politician.

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NCP leader Nawab Malik claimed Cordelia cruise "drugs party" organisers took permission from Centre

Highlights

  • Mr Malik said member of international drug mafia was there on the cruise
  • He asked how come he was moving scot-free, while others were arrested
  • He said he'll resign if Mr Wankhede's birth certificate turns out false
Mumbai:

Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik today claimed the Cordelia cruise "drugs party" organisers had taken permission directly from the "Directorate of Shipping" at the Centre and not the state police or the state home department.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr Malik also claimed that a member of an international drugs mafia was present on the same cruise, and asked how come he was moving scot-free, while some others were arrested, following a raid on the ship earlier this month.

Nawab Malik also said if the Narcotics Control Bureau Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede's birth certificate, which the minister had posted online to claim the official forged documents to secure job, turns out false, then he will resign from his ministerial post and retire as a politician.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 during which drugs were allegedly seized. Later, Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, and some others were arrested.

Mr Malik has repeatedly termed the cruise drug bust case as "fake" and levelled a string of allegations against Mr Wankhede, who led the raid.

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On Wednesday, the minister said, "The Cordelia cruise drugs party organisers - Fashion TV - had not taken any permission from the Maharashtra Police or the state home department. They obtained the permission directly from the directorate of shipping, which comes under the Union Ministry for Ports, Shipping and Waterways."

Nawab Malik said, "I believe that a top committee of NCB officials from Delhi has arrived here. They should check the call detail records of personal phones of NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, (witnesses) KP Gosavi, Prabhakar Sail and Wankhede's driver Mane. You will need no recording of statements. The phone calls will be self-explanatory."

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The minister also claimed that a member of an international drugs mafia was present on the same cruise.

"There are some of videos of the party in which the person, sporting a beard, can been seen. I am told he was in the Tihar Jail (Delhi) and in a Rajasthan jail in the past. The NCB's Delhi team should check the CCTV cameras of the cruise. How come a few people were arrested and the international level drugs mafia (member) is moving scot-free?" the NCP spokesperson asked.

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Nawab Malik also said that if Sameer Wankhede's birth certificate, which he had posted on social media, turns out to be false, then "I will resign from my post and retire as a politician".

"If my claims are true, then Sameer Wankhede should at least apologise to me and my family. He will lose his job for sure," the minister said.

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Nawab Malik had earlier levelled a number of allegations against Sameer Wankhede and also accused him of illegal phone tapping and forging his documents to secure job.

Sameer Wankhede, who visited the Narcotics Control Bureau office in Delhi on Tuesday, has denied the allegations.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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