Connect with us
Tuesday,07-October-2025
Breaking News

Maharashtra

Nawab Malik, who dares to snoop on NCB super-sleuth!

Published

on

As far as snoops go, Maharahstra Minister Nawab Malik presents an unlikely picture as he takes on the shaken might of the Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

Compared with cocky original 007, the bespectacled, bearded Malik presents a rather homely, fatherly figure, mostly in comfy kurtas who has taken upon himself to right the alleged wrongs of the Super Sleuth Wankhede.

As the stunned NCB and the national polity gaped, the Malik-Wankhede war – which started after the agency’s swoop on a luxury cruise ship in which one of those caught was Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan – became the top TRP catcher.

The besieged and worried Wankhede is fighting it out in different fora and pulling all possible strings to keep the muck raked by Malik from sticking to him, with the latter vowing in public that it will all end with the officer (Wankhede) getting the sack and going to jail.

Last month (October 2021), in an unprecedented step, Malik launched an expose campaign against Wankhede and his activities, raising a big question mark on the officer’s credentials and the NCB’s credibility.

His latest serial exposure has not only rattled Wankhede, but raised uncomfortable questions on how the NCB, other central agencies like ED, ITD, CBI, NIA, etc, are being deployed to harass Opposition-parties ruled states by the BJP at the Centre.

“I have first-hand knowledge of how injustice is being meted out by these agencies to innocents. I decided somehow, someone has to do the cleaning up… I have no personal motives… Only Truth I am putting out before people,” Malik smiled with confidence.

On his prime target, Malik contends that the charge of extortion already established, soon the fake caste certificate matter will also be officially proved, and the “crusade for truth will continue till Wankhede is dismissed and dumped in jail”.

His regular media briefings are reminiscent of the Vikram-Betaal tales when he hurls agonising questions at the dazed Wankhede, who scurries from pillar-to-post for dear help.

Born in 1959 in the small Dhuswa village of Utraula Tehsil, Balrampur district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, close to India-Nepal border, despite his name suggesting ‘nobility’, Malik was an ordinary village lad till the family migrated to Mumbai for better prospects in 1970.

Dhuswa folks say that his father Mohammed Islam Malik initially started a small business in ‘chindi’ (rags) in Dongri, south Mumbai, and later shifted to north-east suburban Kurla.

In Kurla, Malik helped his father launch a scrap buying-selling business – the reason why some people now snobbishly try to run him down as a ‘kabadiwala’.

“So… What’s wrong in being a ‘kabadiwala’? We are doing a service to the nation, converting waste into wealth, which is also good for the environment,” Malik told IANS.

After dabbling in local social activities, he forayed into politics first with the ‘Sanjay Vichar Manch’ party launched by Maneka Gandhi – after the death of her husband Sanjay Gandhi – along with his close aides like Akbar ‘Dumpy’ Ahmed, Sanjay Singh, J.N. Mishra, Kalpnath Sonkar, etc.

Malik first contested Lok Sabha elections in 1984 against the Congress stalwart, the late Gurudas Kamat but barely got around 2,500 votes.

Later, he flirted with the Congress briefly before switching over to the Samajwadi Party (SP), won a bypoll to become an MLA and was promptely rewarded with a Minister of State position in the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance government in 1999.

Following political wrangles with the SP State President Abu Asim Azmi, Malik left and joined the NCP led by Sharad Pawar, and became a MoS and later a Cabinet Minister.

In 2005, he was targeted for alleged corruption by a social crusader Kisan Baburao alias Anna Hazare and had to quit the cabinet along with 4 other ministers.

Though Malik vehemently rubbished all charges against him, he was plucky enough to launch a counter-campaign against Hazare and also continued to work for the NCP, slowly earning the confidence of the party top brass, including the Pawar clan.

In November 2019, when the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi took office, Malik catapulted to the cabinet but encountered a setback when his son-in-law Sameer Khan was nabbed by the NCB and finally released on bail after over 8 months.

His former colleagues including ex-ministers (on condition of anonymity) describe Nawab Malik as “a meticulous worker, who handles any issue studiously, a tad arrogant occasionally, a fierce ‘family-man’, a gutsy leader who dares to barge in where angels fear to tread, and has the gall to call a spade a spade”, etc.

Maharashtra

Conspiracy to defame Sameer Wankhede… serious accusation of protecting Cordelia Cruz from drug case, Judge Irfan Shaikh dismissed after disciplinary committee report

Published

on

Mumbai: An attempt to defame former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede has started once again. Now the latest case is the dismissal of Judge Irfan Sheikh, in which this allegation has been made against Sameer Wankhede. In the Cordelia Cruz case, instead of arresting Judge Irfan Sheikh, his team has saved the judge. Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Irfan Sheikh was then posted as a judge of the Splendid Court. He was currently serving as a judge of Palghar and Thana District. After serious allegations like misuse of office, use of seized drugs, hitting a taxi with his car on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg while intoxicated, abusing his powers along with having disproportionate wealth, hiding his identity at Nair Hospital and registering a false and misleading address, and getting the car back without depositing it, the High Court has dismissed the judge from service under disciplinary action. When the judge was investigated in the case, the allegations were found to be true and Irfan Sheikh was dismissed from his job. There is no mention of the Cordelia Cruz drug case anywhere in it, but Sameer Wankhede is being accused of helping the judge. Sameer Wankhede has categorically denied this and said that there is no mention of the Cordelia Cruz drug case in the police report or the judicial committee report.
When the documents and copies were obtained in this regard, there was no mention of the Cordelia Cruise drug case. Sameer Wankhede is a constant target of Bollywood, so Shah Rukh Khan’s company Red Chillies Entertainment had prepared a series of bad Bollywood stories against him, against which Sameer Wankhede has filed a defamation case in the Delhi High Court and its hearing is likely to be held soon. The series of slander against Sameer Wankhede and his family has become long and this is the reason why the attempt to defame Sameer Wankhede has intensified in the Irfan Sheikh case as well, but Sameer Wankhede or the NCB team have no role or involvement in this matter.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Muslims should stop pasting stickers of I Love Muhammad, criticism of Somaiya and Nitesh Rane, accusation of Abu Asim Azmi of working on a hate agenda

Published

on

Mumbai: Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has appealed to Muslims to follow the footsteps and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and stop pasting stickers of I Love Muhammad because this government is taking action against pasting stickers and is also raining down batons. He said that the unrest being created over the I Love Muhammad sticker is a threat to the country, but despite this, the government is taking action against Muslims. On the Bareilly violence, Azmi said that I Love Muhammad is now an opportunity for sectarians under the guise of which they are running a hateful agenda. Therefore, now Muslims should love him with their true teachings and heart instead of pasting stickers of I Love Muhammad and should avoid pasting stickers. He said that Kirit Somaiya shows provocations about Ai Lo Muhammad and Muslims every day, along with that, the stickers that were pasted in Kurla were pasted with the will of the vehicle owners, there is no need to create a fuss and uproar over it, but Kirit Somaiya has no value, that is why he runs a hate agenda every day. Responding to BJP leader Nitesh Rane’s threat, MLA Abu Asim Azmi said that Nitesh Rane has no other business except spreading hatred, that is why I do not want to respond to his words. Elephants walk, dogs bark. He said that Nitesh Rane cannot even do Hanuman Chalisa and Bhagwat Gita Puja Paat properly, he only does politics in the name of Ram.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Thane: Major Blaze Erupts At Chemical Godown In Bhiwandi; One Fire Officer Injured

Published

on

Thane: A major fire broke out at a godown storing chemicals along the Mumbai-Nashik highway in Maharashtra’s Thane district, officials said on Monday.

While no casualty was reported in the blaze which erupted around 9.45 pm on Sunday, a fire officer was injured after falling into a drain during the firefighting operation, they said.

Thick smoke from the burning chemicals triggered panic in the surrounding industrial area.

Efforts were still on to douse the blaze, the officials said.

The fire originated in the chemical storage unit located near Savad Naka in Lonad village of Bhiwandi town along the highway, Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell chief Saquib Kharbe said.

Several fire engines and private water tankers were pressed into service, he said.

There was no report of any casualty in the blaze so far. However, fire officer Nitin Lad sustained injuries after slipping and falling into a drain while wearing a fire suit during the operation and was immediately provided medical assistance, the official said.

Four fire engines — two from Kalyan and one each from Bhiwandi and Ulhasnagar — were rushed to the spot. Several fire personnel were at the spot and efforts were still on to douse the flames, Thane Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said.

The cause of the blaze was yet to be determined, he added.

Continue Reading

Trending