News Analysis India

Tag: NCB

  • Nawab Malik shares WhatsApp chat between Kiran Gosavi, Kashiff Khan; asks why no action being taken

    By ANI

    MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on Tuesday shared a screenshot of a purported Whatsapp chat between the witness in drugs on cruise case KP Gosavi and an informer that contains the name of Kashiff Khan, on his official Twitter handle and questioned the connection between Khan and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

    Referring to the WhatsApp chat, Malik raised questions on Khan not being questioned in the case.

    “Here is a WhatsApp chat between K P Gosavi and an informer which mentions Kashiff Khan. Why is Kashiff Khan not being questioned? What is the relationship between Kashiff Khan and Sameer Dawood Wankhede?” tweeted Malik.

    On November 8, Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh had on Monday confirmed that he was invited to the Cordelia cruise party by Fashion TV head Kashiff Khan in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

    Addressing a press conference, Shaikh had said that he does not know him personally and does not have his contact number.

    “Being a minister, I get invited to many events and parties. I was invited to the cruise party by one Kashiff Khan. I don’t know him personally and I also don’t have his contact number. If someone has any evidence, then they should bring it forward,” Shaikh had said.

    The Maharashtra Minister said that two agencies are currently probing the entire issue and the truth would come out soon.

    Meanwhile, the Pune Police on Friday registered a fresh case of cheating against Kiran Gosavi, a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) witness in the drugs-on-cruise case, at Bhosari police station.

    Three cases have already been registered against Gosavi in Pune city. With a recent case lodged in Pimpri Chinchwad, he has now four cases registered against him in the Pune district.

  • Drugs-on-cruise case: Approach Pune court to record jailed Kiran Gosavi’s statement, NCB told

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A special NDPS court in Mumbai on Monday disposed of a plea of the NCB to record the statement of private investigator and witness Kiran Gosavi in connection with the October 2 drug bust on board a cruise ship, and asked the probe agency to approach a court in Pune.

    Gosavi is currently in Yerwada jail in connection with cheating cases filed in some police stations of Pune, and the NCB told court that it wanted to record his statement under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in order to file a charge sheet in the drugs-on-cruise case.

    The NCB told court the statements of panch witnesses would be part of the charge sheet and wanted directions to be given to the jail superintendent to allow the agency to examine, interrogate and record a voluntary statement.

    Special Judge V V Patil disposed of the NCB’s plea and directed it to approach a Pune court.

    A cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai was raided by the NCB on October 2 and several people were held allegedly with drugs, the accused including film superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, who was later given bail by the Bombay High Court.

  • NCB team probing extortion claims in Aryan case records statements over dozen witnesses

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Special Enquiry Team (SET) of the NCB which is probing allegations of extortion attempts in the drugs case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan has recorded statements of over a dozen persons so far, a senior official said on Friday.

    Deputy Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau Gyaneshwar Singh, who is heading the vigilance inquiry, said the team was satisfied with the pace and direction of the probe.

    “We have recorded statements of 14-15 people. We are trying to complete it as early as possible, but we are waiting for some important witnesses to join the probe,” he told reporters here.

    The team has recorded statements of witness Prabhakar Sail and NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, among others.

    Sail, who claimed to be the bodyguard of NCB witness K P Gosavi, alleged in an affidavit last month that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal after Aryan Khan was arrested during a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

    He also claimed that Gosavi had said Rs 8 crore of the deal money was to be given to Wankhede. The officer has denied the allegation.

    “We can’t give any timeline for concluding the probe, because certain things are beyond us. Let people join the investigation,” Singh said.

    The SET will examine Gosavi after he is sent in judicial custody and an application in this regard will be heard by the court on Monday, he said.

    Gosavi is currently in Pune cantonment police’s custody in a cheating case.

    Asked if the team will also record statements of Aryan and (Shah Rukh Khan’s manager) Puja Dadlani, Singh said it will speak to all people who are important for the inquiry.

    As to his meeting with Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale, he said the latter promised to cooperate in the case.

    “We have received some CCTV footage. We are waiting for some more,” he added.

  • HC reserves order on interim relief sought in defamation suit filed by Wankhede’s father

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday reserved its order on interim relief sought in a defamation suit filed by NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede’s father against Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.

    Dnyandev, Sameer Wankhede’s father, has sought damages of Rs 1.25 crore from the NCP leader.

    He has also sought an order restraining Malik from making any false or incorrect statements against the Wankhede family during the pendency of the suit.

    Justice Madhav Jamdar had in the previous hearing given the petitioner time till Friday to file an additional affidavit to point out how Malik’s tweets and the documents published by him were false and baseless.

    The Bench had also directed Malik to file an affidavit averring that he had verified the documents before posting them on social media.

    Wankhede’s father filed an affidavit listing out 28 documents to establish that his name was ‘Dnyandev’ and not ‘Dawood’ as alleged by the NCP leader.

    The minister, on the other hand, stated in an affidavit that he had “reasonably verified” the documents before posting.

    The judge noted that a purported birth certificate of Sameer Wankhede which Malik had produced apparently has “interpolation”, which would mean that the minister had not taken due care while relying on it.

    Advocate Arshad Shaikh, appearing for Wankhede, argued that Malik was targeting Sameer Wankhede because the minister’s son-in-law had been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau and could not get bail for eight months.

    Malik had alleged that Dnyandev Wankhede had converted to Islam.

    Sameer, his son, however, got government job in the quota for the Scheduled Castes, a benefit which a Muslim person can not get, the minister had claimed.

    Sameer Wankhede had refuted the allegation and stated that he and his family were Hindu.

  • Cruise ship raid case: Court grants bail to another accused Mohak Jaiswal in drugs case

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A special court here on Friday granted bail to Mohak Jaiswal, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan is one of the accused.

    VV Patil, special judge for cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cases, allowed Jaiswal’s plea after hearing extensive arguments. Jaiswal was one of the seven persons including Aryan Khan whom the NCB had apprehended on October 2 before boarding the cruise ship.

    They were later arrested under relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, including section 27A which deals with `financing’ of drug trafficking. The NCB had claimed that WhatsApp chats showed a nexus between Jaiswal and other accused with drug suppliers and peddlers.

    The bail plea said that Jaiswal was completely innocent, there was no evidence against him and the central agency has not attributed any “direct role” to him in the alleged crime. As many as 20 persons were arrested in the case, of which 12 have been granted bail by the special NDPS court while the Bombay High Court has granted bail to three others including Aryan Khan so far.

    Based on a tip-off, an NCB team raided Goa-bound Cordelia cruise off the Mumbai coast on the evening of October 2 and allegedly seized drugs.

  • Witness Prabhakar Sail appears before NCB team probing drugs-on-cruise case

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Independent witness Prabhakar Sail on Thursday appeared before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with the drugs-on-cruise case involving Aryan Khan, an official said.

    Sail, who has claimed to have heard about a pay-off deal to let off Aryan, actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, in the case, was quizzed by the NCB’s vigilance team earlier.

    On Thursday, he and his lawyer Tushar Khandare reached the NCB’s south Mumbai office around 2.30 pm, said the official.

    The operational team of the NCB which has arrived here from Delhi and taken over the probe of several cases including the case involving Aryan Khan, had summoned him.

    The central agency’s vigilance team interrogated Sail for several hours on Monday and Tuesday.

    Sail, who claimed to be the bodyguard of NCB witness K P Gosavi, alleged in an affidavit last month that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal after Aryan Khan was arrested during a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

    He also claimed that Gosavi had said Rs 8 crore of the deal money was to be given to the NCB’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede.

    Following his allegations, the NCB started a vigilance inquiry.

    Wankhede denied all the allegations.

  • Sameer Wankhede is govt officer, his actions can be examined by anyone, Bombay HC says while hearing defamation suit

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede is a “public officer” and his actions can be scrutinized by anyone, the Bombay High Court said on Wednesday while hearing a defamation suit filed by his father against Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.

    Dnyandev Wankhede, Sameer’s father, has sought damages of Rs 1.25 crore from Malik and an order restraining him from making further false or incorrect statements against the Wankhede family.

    The NCP leader has levelled a series of allegations against Sameer Wankhede, accusing him, among other things, of forging his birth certificate to get a government job.

    During the hearing, Dnyandev Wankhede’s lawyer Arshad Shaikh asked why Sameer should provide any justifications to a person who is “just an MLA and not a court.”

    To which, Justice Madhav Jamdar said, “You are a public officer…you just need to prove that the tweets (posted by Malik) are prima facie false…Your son is not only an individual, but a public officer and can be examined by any member of public.”

    On the other hand, the court also asked Malik’s lawyer Atul Damle, “Is it not your duty to verify the documents before posting? Have you verified the authenticity of the documents as a responsible citizen and spokesperson of a national party?” Wankhede’s lawyer then sought time to file an additional affidavit to establish that Malik’s allegations were false.

    The court granted him time till Friday, and also asked the NCP leader’s lawyer to file an affidavit to the effect that he had verified the documents (related to Sameer Wankhede’s personal details) before posting them on Twitter or publishing them.

    The matter was posted for further hearing on November 12.

    Dnyandev Wankhede’s suit said that Malik’s claim that he was Muslim amounted to questioning religious beliefs of the family, and the minister’s allegations had caused an irreparable damage to the family’s reputation.

    It also sought a direction to Malik to withdraw all “defamatory statements” and tweets about the Wankhede family.

    Sameer Wankhede last month led a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast during which the NCB allegedly seized drugs and arrested Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, and 19 others.

    Malik alleged that the whose raid was bogus.

    He also claimed that Sameer Wankhede was born a Muslim as his father had converted to Islam, but later Sameer forged his birth certificate to get a job in the Scheduled Castes quota and stated falsely that he was Hindu.

    The NCB official has denied the allegations.

  • ‘Friendship between Fadnavis and Wankhede helped criminals to flourish in Maharashtra’: Nawab Malik

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Wednesday accused former state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of sweeping under the carpet a case of seized fake notes and resorting to “criminalisation of politics” by appointing people with criminal background on government boards.

    Continuing his tirade against the leader of the opposition, Malik in a press conference said there are “more bombs to be dropped” in coming days and he will spill the beans on this issue against the BJP.

    There was no immediate reaction from BJP leader Fadnavis on the fresh charges levelled by Malik.

    Malik on Tuesday said he would drop a “hydrogen bomb” and reveal Fadnavis’ alleged underworld links.

    Fadnavis had on Tuesday alleged a dubious land deal involving Malik, his family members and two convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case over a decade ago, a charge refuted by the minister.

    On Wednesday, the NCP minister said while fake notes were seized in other states after demonetisation on November 8 2016, there was not a single such instance in Maharashtra.

    At that time Fadnavis was the chief minister of the state.

    Malik said on October 8, 2017, the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized fake notes worth Rs 14.56 crore from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

    “But Devendra Fadnavis helped sweep the case under the carpet. The seized amount was later shown with a value of Rs 8.8 lakhs,” Malik alleged, questioning why the case was not handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

    “Incidentally, Sameer Wankhade (the Narcotics Control Bureau officer against whom Malik has levelled several serious allegations) was the DRI’s joint director at that time,” he added.

    Malik further said one Imran Alam Sheikh was arrested in this case.

    Later, his brother Haji Arfat Sheikh was made the chairman of the state minority commission, the minister claimed.

    He alleged that Fadnavis appointed people with criminal background on several state boards.

    He said one Munna Yadav from Nagpur was made the chairman of the Maharashtra Construction Workers Welfare Board despite criminal charges like murder registered against him.

    Malik also alleged that during Fadnavis sheltered an individual whose second wife was a Bangladeshi.

    When the Malad police tried investigating the case, they was pressured.

    “Fadnavis resorted to criminalisation of politics by appointing people with criminal background on government posts,” the minister alleged.

    Malik and Fadnavis have been targeting each other with charges of underworld links.

    Both have denied any links with the underworld.

    On Tuesday, Fadnavis said Malik and his family members were part of a company which purchased land in Kurla area of Mumbai at a very low rate by making some fictitious documents.

    Malik had last week sought to link the BJP with an alleged narcotics dealer by tweeting the latter’s photograph with the former chief minister and his wife Amruta Fadnavis.

    The former CM had then said he will make revelations about Malik’s “underworld links” after Diwali and also share the “documents and proofs” of the same with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar.

  • Nawab Malik’s kin bought land from people with underworld links: Ex-Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday alleged that state minister Nawab Malik and his family members entered into land deals with people associated with the underworld.

    Speaking to reporters here, Fadnavis also claimed he did not have this information earlier (when he was the state’s chief minister). The BJP leader said had he found this previously, he would have exposed NCP leader Malik earlier.

    Notably, Malik earlier this month sought to link the BJP with an alleged narcotics dealer by tweeting the latter’s photograph with the former chief minister’s wife Amruta Fadnavis. Malik had also posted a similar photograph of Devendra Fadnavis with alleged the drug dealer.

    The former CM had then said he will make revelations about Malik’s “underworld links” after Diwali and also share the same with NCP president Sharad Pawar.

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    On Tuesday, Fadnavis said, “Nawab Malik and his family members were part of a company which purchased land in Kurla (area of Mumbai) at a very low rate by making some fictitious documents. There are four such land purchase deals where I can firmly say that Malik has entered into land deals with the underworld.”

    He claimed the land was purchased from Sardar Shahwali Khan and Saleem Ishaq Patel, who were convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. “Why did you do business with the killers of Mumbaikars?” the BJP leader asked.

    “Another question arises that why did these two accused persons sell their land to Malik? They were about to get convicted under then TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act). As per that legal provision, all the properties of convicts get attached and come under government control. Did Malik help them to avoid such land on prime location from getting attached?” he asked.

    The LoP claimed Nawab Malik’s son Faraz Malik had signed the agreement documents of the Kurla land deal with Sardar Shahwali Khan and Saleem Ishaq Patel. “I did not have this information earlier (during chief ministerial tenure). Had I found it, I would have exposed him (Nawab Malik) earlier. I will submit these documents to appropriate authorities like the CBI, ED or NIA. I will also share a copy of it with NCP chief Sharad Pawar,” he said.

    Nawab Malik has since last month levelled a series of allegations against Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede after he led a raid on a cruise ship, following which actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and some others were arrested.

    The NCP leader’s son-in-law Sameer Khan was also arrested by the NCB earlier this year in an alleged drugs case and was later granted bail by a court. On November 1, Devendra Fadnavis had said Malik’s attack on the NCB was an attempt to put pressure on officials of the anti-drugs agency so that the case against his son-in-law is weakened.

  • Cruise drugs case: NCB questions Prabhakar Sail for over 10 hours; Gosavi’s police custody extended

    By PTI

    MUMBAI; Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness, was questioned for more than 10 hours by the NCB’s Delhi vigilance team, probing the pay-off allegations in the cruise drugs case in which actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan is an accused, an NCB official said on Tuesday.

    He has been called by the anti-drugs agency again on Tuesday, the official said.

    Earlier, after being summoned by the NCB on Sunday, Sail along with his lawyer reached the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) mess in suburban Bandra under police protection at 2 pm on Monday.

    He left the place, where the NCB team questioned him, around 12.20 am on Tuesday with his lawyer and did not speak to media persons present outside the premises.

    “We have called him again for questioning on Tuesday,” NCB’s Deputy Director General (northern region) Gyaneshwar Singh said.

    The NCB’s vigilance team, headed by Singh, who is also chief vigilance officer (CVO) of the federal anti-narcotics agency, had reached here from Delhi on Monday morning.

    Sail, who claims to be the bodyguard of NCB witness KP Gosavi, last month alleged in an affidavit that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal after Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB.

    Sail claimed that Gosavi had said Rs 8 crore of the deal money was to be given to NCB’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede.

    Sail’s allegations had prompted the NCB to order a vigilance inquiry against NCB officials and others.

    Wankhede had denied the allegations against him.

    Last month, a vigilance team led by Singh came to Mumbai to probe the allegations of extortion, but had then failed to record Sail’s statement.

    It had at that time recorded statements of eight persons, including Wankhede, and collected some important documents and recordings related to the cruise drugs case, an official earlier said.

    Meanwhile, a Pune court on Monday extended by one day the police custody of Kiran Gosavi, an NCB witness arrested in a cheating case registered against him in the city.

    Gosavi, one of the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) witnesses in the cruise drug sbust case of Mumbai, was produced before a Judicial Magistrate (First Class) after his current police remand period ended.

    Seeking three more days of custody, public prosecutor Varsha Aslekar told the court that the police have recovered Rs 1 lakh from Gosavi in the 2018 cheating case in which he had allegedly duped one Chinmay Deshmukh to the tune of Rs 3.09 lakh by promising him a job in the hotel industry in Malaysia.

    “The custody was sought as police want to recover some data from his social media accounts. The accused (Gosavi) is not cooperating with the police,” Aslekar told the court.

    She added that police want to trace more women accused in the case, whose name had cropped up during the probe.

    After submissions by the prosecution, the magistrate extended the police custody of Gosavi by one day.

    This was the second time the court has extended the police custody of Gosavi, who was arrested last month.

    The case in which he has been arrested was registered at the Faraskhana police station here.

    Two more cases of cheating have been lodged against Gosavi in the city – at Cantonment and Wanwadi police stations.

    Gosavi’s photos and videos with actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan went viral on social media after the NCB’s raid on the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2.

    Aryan Khan, currently on bail, is one of the accused in the drugs case.