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Mumbai: NCP minister Nawab Malik on Wednesday shared pictures of Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director Sameer Wankhede’s nikah with Shabana Qureshi in 2006 on his Twitter handle and accused him of forging a caste certificate for securing a job in the central government.

“This is the nikahnama of the first marriage of Sameer Dawood Wankhede with Shabana Qureshi. I have all the relevant documents to prove my contention. In addition, I have specific information as to how he procured the caste certificate for procuring a job in the central government. Once we submit the forged documents to the competent authorities, stern action will be taken against Wankhede,” Malik claimed.

Wankhede’s father, Dnyandev, rubbished reports that his son has fraudulently obtained a caste certificate to get into IRS and said that he is likely to file a defamation case as well as under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against Malik. Dnyandev said: “Sameer’s mother and I had a love marriage; she was Muslim. Sameer was marrying a Muslim, therefore, he completed the formality of a nikahnama. As far as his nikahnama is concerned, I had signed it without reading it. More than 1,000 guests had attended the ceremony. Sameer married Shabana under the Special Marriage Act and later divorced her under the same Act. Where is the question of cheating. Why is the minister making the allegations now?”

According to reports, Wankhede has challenged Malik to prove that he has changed his religion. “I am Hindu from birth and I come from a Dalit family...I have never undergone any religious conversion,” he said. “My father is a Hindu and my mother was a Muslim...She wanted to follow Muslim customs for my marriage...the same month, I got it registered under the Special Marriage Act. If I have converted to another religion, Malik should show the certificate. My father will show the marriage certificate under the Special Marriage Act.”

But according to an agency report, the qazi who had performed Wankhede’s first marriage, on Wednesday claimed that he belonged to a Muslim family otherwise the nikah would not have been solemnised as per Islam. He said he was told that the groom’s father’s name was Dawood. “If today, he is saying, he is not a Muslim, he is lying,” the qazi said. 

Mumbai: NCP spokesperson and skill development minister Nawab Malik on Monday made fresh allegations against NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, saying he had submitted forged documents to secure his present job. Malik claimed Wankhede got a job in the IRS as an SC candidate by forging and tampering with documents to get a caste certficate.

Malik shared two things on his Twitter handle: an old picture of Wankhede’s saying ‘Pahchan Kaun’ and a birth certificate issued by the BMC. About the certificate, he wrote, “Yahase Shuru Hota Hai Farjiwada (Fraudulent activities begin from securing a birth certificate).”

On the purported certificate, Wankhede’s name has been mentioned as Sameer Dawood Wankhede, while on the NCB’s official website, Malik said, it has been mentioned as Sameer Dhyandev Wankhede.

In a related development, home minister Dilip Walse Patil said the Mumbai police have given full protection to witness Prabhakar Sail, who made allegations against Wankhede on Sunday. NCP president and water resources minister Jayant Patil said the state government will take appropriate steps in view of the information disclosed by Malik.

Wankhede denied all the charges, saying that the publishing of his personal documents on Twitter was defamatory in nature and was an unnecessary invasion of his family’s privacy. Wankhede’s father also spoke to the media on Monday, saying his name is Dyaneshwar Wankhede, and Sameer is his son and he never used Dawood as his name. “Whoever is claiming that a false certificate has been submitted is false,” he said.

Malik said, “We are sure the competent authority, the caste scrutiny panel, will verify documents and take appropriate action.”

Malik was the first to raise questions over the credibility of independent witness K P Gosavi and Manish Bhunushali. He said Gosavi was wanted in four cases, while Bhanushali was a BJP activist. Further, Malik had said Wankhede’s family friend Fletcher Patel was a witness in four cases.

Reacting to Malik’s statements on Twitter, Wankhede said his father Dnyandev Wankhede retired as senior inspector from the state excise department on June 30, 2007. “My father is a Hindu and my mother late Zaheeda was a Muslim. I belong to a composite, multi-religious and secular family in (the) true Indian tradition and I am proud of my heritage. I married Shabana Qureshi in 2006 and divorced mutually in 2016. Later, I married Kranti Dinanath Redkar in 2017,” he said.