Asia

Nawab Malik: In 3 cases, NCB used punch witnesses who knew their officers

October 16, 2021
Henry Club

State minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik continued his attacks on the NCB on Saturday, this time alleging that in the three cases registered by him, the NCB had used a punch witness who knew its officers. As per law an arbitrator must be an independent witness who verifies the recovery from a scene of crime.

Malik tweeted that a person identified as Fletcher Patel, who has been named as a panch witness in three cases including the Rhea Chakraborty case, knew Samir Wankhede, regional director of NCB. He also put up photographs of Fletcher with Wankhede and his sister Jasmine, a lawyer.

Malik put up photographs of panchnama in three cases where Fletcher Patel’s name was mentioned as a panch witness. Malik asked if it was legal to use an officer as a panch witness.

Malik demanded that the NCB hold a press conference and explain how the person who knew the officer was used as a punch witness.

While Wankhede did not respond to the allegations, an NCB official said that Fletcher belonged to an army veterans group in the city. “The picture in which he is seen with Wankhede was a military event organized at CST, where he took a pledge to eliminate the menace of narcotics from the country,” the official said.

He further added, “Patel respects the work done by Wankhede and is Rakhi brother of Wankhede’s sister, who is a lawyer.”

Malik had earlier held a press conference where he had said that Two punch witnesses used by NCB in Cordelia drug bust case knew Wankhede. Where one had a prior crime record, the other had a connection to BJP.

Malik had earlier alleged that Wankhede was working at the behest of the BJP to defame Bollywood. The NCB had retaliated, alleging that Malik’s son-in-law was arrested by the NCB earlier this year, after which he was behind bars for almost six months, so Malik was trying to come back to the NCB.

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