Caste row: Sameer Wankhede calls on NCSC chief, thanks him for getting his name cleared

IRS officer Sameer Wankhede, who was accused of submitting a fake caste certificate to get a government job, called on National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chairperson Vijay Sampla on Tuesday and thanked him for expeditiously clearing his name in the case.

After the meeting, Wankhede, a former head of the Narcotics Control Bureau’s Mumbai zone, said he feels vindicated that his name has been cleared.

”I fought for 11 months, my whole family suffered in the process but all I want to say is ‘Satyamev Jayate’. I thank Vijay Sampla for his role in expediting (the process)…,” he said.

Maharashtra’s district caste certificate verification committee in its order on Friday said the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer was not a Muslim by birth and it has been proven that he belonged to Mahar caste, which is a Scheduled Caste (SC).

After receiving the committee’s order, Wankhede went to a police station and filed a complaint against former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik who had accused him of submitting fake caste certificate.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against the politician under Indian Penal Code sections 500 (punishment for defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory) and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Wankhede had come into limelight following the NCB’s high-profile raids in October 2021 on a Mumbai cruise after which the agency arrested actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and 19 others, and claimed to have seized some narcotics.

The agency later dropped charges against Aryan Khan in the case.