BJP leader’s kin invited Aryan Khan to the party: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik

NCP leader Nawab Malik at Saturday’s press conference

NCP leader and Cabinet minister of Maharashtra Nawab Malik on Saturday alleged that the Narcotics Control Bureau had detained the brother-in-law of a BJP leader during a raid on the cruise ship on October 2, but let him off, along with two others, due to political pressure.

Malik, who was addressing a press conference produced a video of three people leaving the NCB office and identified them as Rishabh Sachdeva, Pratik Gaba and Amir Furniturewala. According to Malik, Khan was invited by Gaba and Sachdeva, who is the brother-in-law of Mohit Kamboj alias Mohit Bharatiya, a BJP leader. "Everything is manipulated by NCB and they let off these three, including Mohit's relative after calls were made by BJP leaders from Maharashtra and Delhi to the NCB officer Sameer Wankhede. I demand that call details of Mr Wankhede be checked," said Malik.

The NCP leader claimed that the NCB's entire case was put-together on the basis of WhatsApp chats. Malik also presented two panchanamas, where KP Gosavi, who has been absconding in a cheating case since 2018, was made a panch witness in Munmun Dhamecha and Khan's panchanama. "The same panch witness has given two different addresses. I want to know how that is possible," Malik asked.

Malik produced a video of Rishabh Sachdeva, Pratik Gaba and Amir Furniturewala leaving the NCB office

Later in the day, NCB Deputy Director Gyaneshwar Singh and Sameer Wankhede responded to the allegations levelled by Malik, calling them "baseless". "We let off six people after recording their statements, as we didn't find anything concrete against them. Their statements are going to be part of the chargesheet," Singh told reporters.

He said that the NCB is a professional and independent agency, which conducts an "unbiased" probe. "Our aim is to eradicate drug menace from the society and this is what we keep in mind, while carrying out raids in NDPS cases. We never look at a person's religion, caste or political background," Singh added. As far as Gosavi is concerned, the agency said they hadn't checked his profile beforehand. Singh said, "He was just made a panch witness as per his availability."

Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said people were politicising the issue. Meanwhile, Mohit Bharatiya said that he would be filing a defamatory suit of R100 crore against Nawab Malik. "Proceeds of the said suit will go towards the war on drugs."

Shah Rukh's driver questioned

On Saturday, the NCB also questioned Shah Rukh Khan's driver to get certain clarity in the ongoing probe. "The case is at a very crucial stage and we cannot reveal the details," Wankhede told mid-day. So far, the agency has arrested 19 people in the case.