Police in Maharashtra’s Thane city filed a case on Saturday against former Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede for allegedly obtaining a licence for a bar and hotel through fraud and misrepresentation of personal details, PTI reported.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone V) Vinaykumar Rathod said that the first information report was filed at the Kopri police station in Thane based on a complaint by Maharashtra excise officials. The allegations pertain to the Sadguru Bar in the city of Navi Mumbai, according to ANI.

Advertisement

Thane District Collector Rajesh Narvekar had recently cancelled Wankhede’s licence for the establishment.

In his complaint, excise department official Shankar Gogavale claimed that Wankhede got the licence in 1997, when he was still a minor. In November, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik had made the same allegation against Wankhede.

Malik had also claimed that it was against the service rules for Wankhede to hold a licence for a bar while being in a government job, according to PTI. Wankhede had denied Malik’s allegations.

Advertisement

The Maharashtra Excise Department had issued a notice to Wankhede in connection with the matter. After examining the allegations against Wankhede and his response on the matter, the department had concluded that obtained the licence on October 27, 1997, when he was a minor. The permissible age to hold such a licence is 21 years.

Wankhede’s tenure at the NCB ended on December 31, and he did not seek an extension. Till November 5, he had been investigating the Mumbai cruise ship drugs case, involving Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.

Malik has accused also Wankhede of being part of an extortion racket linked to drug cases against Bollywood actors. The Nationalist Congress Party leader has also alleged that the officer was part of a plan by a Bharatiya Janata Party member to kidnap Aryan Khan.

Meanwhile, Wankhede’s father Dhyandev Wankhede has filed a Rs 1.25 crore defamation suit in the Bombay High Court against the NCP leader for his comments against his son. The case is currently pending.