NCB official called up panch to sign back-dated papers, claims Nawab Malik

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Sunday fired a fresh salvo at the Narcotics Control Bureau, alleging that an NCB officer called a 'panch' to sign back-dated panchnama papers in a case.

Malik's comments came days after the NCB approached the Bombay High Court to cancel the bail granted to his son-in-law in a drugs case.

When contacted, an NCB official refuted Malik's allegations and termed them as "false and baseless".

Addressing reporters, Malik also released two audio clips - one of a conversation purportedly between an NCB officer calling a panch (witness) 'Maddy' to sign back-dated papers related to a case.

Another audio was of a phone call purportedly between the panch and NCB's Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, whose tenure with the central anti-drugs agency ended on December 31.

The NCB's falsehood doesn't seem to stop...the way officers have made bogus cases by getting signatures from witnesses on blank papers, implicating people in false cases. And now, to set the cases right, they are calling the panchs to sign on back-dated panchnama papers, Malik said.

I am going to approach a court in this matter, the NCP spokesperson said.

Malik said his son-in-law Sameer Khan arrested in a drugs case last year and later released on bail was being singled out to put pressure on him, but he will continue to expose the falsehood of NCB officials.

"The agency has the right to appeal in a higher court if they are not satisfied with the order, but appeals are pending in (actor) Rhea and Showik Chakraborty's case (a drugs case linked to death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput). It would have been better had the papers (pertaining to Sameer Khan's case) come (in public domain) from court," he said.

But, the way PR agencies circulated unsigned papers of the NCB reflects malafide intention behind this, the minister claimed.

Malik, without taking any name, also claimed that a "very senior BJP leader" in the state has been lobbying with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for Wankhede's extension in the central agency in Mumbai.

When contacted, an NCB official said the person 'Maddy', who is talking to an NCB officer (in the audio clip), is one of the witnesses in a case.

"At the time of filing a charge sheet, we call such witnesses. There is nothing like signing (back-dated) papers or any other documents. Whatever allegations the minister is making are false and baseless. We have not threatened anyone for anything," the official added.

Malik had earlier targeted the NCB, particularly Wankhede, multiple times after Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested in a cruise drugs case in October 2021. Aryan Khan was later released on bail.

The minister had dubbed the NCB's raid on the cruise ship as well as the case as fake.