'Sameer Wankhede is a Hindu dalit, stop defaming him and kin', Athawale slams Nawab Malik

As NCP leader Nawab Malik continues to level allegations against NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, Union minister and RPI (A) president Ramdas Athawale on Sunday extended his support to the latter, who he said is a Hindu dalit and a follower of B R Ambedkar. Athawale also asked NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik to refrain from "conspiring" to defame the NCB officer and his family members.

Wankhede is facing the vigilance probe by NCB after an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise case, in which Aryan Khan is one of the accused, claimed of overhearing a discussion of a Rs 25 crore pay-off, including Rs 8 crore for Sameer Wankhede.

"I have gone through the documents. Sameer Wankhede is a Hindu dalit. He is a follower of Babasaheb Ambedkar. He is not Muslim," the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment told reporters.

He said Nawab Malik should stop "conspiring" to defame the NCB officer and his family members.

Meanwhile, Wankhede's wife Kranti Redkar Wankhede on Sunday said the "safety of her husband and family is in jeopardy" and asked for security. "The safety of Sameer Wankhede and her family members is in jeopardy. Three people conducted a recce of the house some days back. These people are very dangerous what they can do, have no clue about that.", she said.

Malik, who has launched a sustained diatribe against Wankhede, had accused the latter of forging his caste certificate and other documents to secure a job from the SC quota after clearing the UPSC examination as an IRS officer. Malik has been claiming that Wankhede is a Muslim by birth.

"If he (Malik) says that Sameer is a Muslim, then why he, who is also a Muslim, is levelling these allegations? My party stands with Sameer's family. Sameer won't be harmed," Athawale said. After meeting Athawale, Kranti Redkar iterated that Malik's allegations against her family are "baseless" and asked what the NCP leader has got to do with someone's husband being a Hindu, Muslim or Christian.

(With PTI Inputs)