The licence allotted to Wankhede was cancelled by the excise department earlier this month. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna) A case has been registered against the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) former Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede for allegedly giving false information in an affidavit in order to obtain a liquor licence, Kopari police said.
The FIR has been registered at Kopari police station in Thane for giving false information on oath, cheating and forgery among other sections of the Indian Penal Code based on a complaint lodged by an excise department official on Saturday evening.
NCP spokesperson and state cabinet minister Nawab Malik had earlier claimed that Wankhede owns a bar called Hotel Sadguru in Navi Mumbai. He had said that the IRS officer was only 17 years old when he received the licence for the bar.
According to the police, the IRS officer misled the government by submitting a false affidavit about his age in order to obtain the liquor sale licence. An official said that while submitting the application for the licence in February 1997, a date was not mentioned but the affidavit and stamp paper said that Wankhede was an adult.
However, the excise department claims that Wankhede was not 18 years old at the time and misled the department. “The purpose was to not reveal the actual age which would have revealed that he is not 21 years old, which is necessary to acquire the liquor licence. The affidavit was made and submitted when he was under 18 years of age. He has only mentioned in the affidavit that he is major instead of the exact date so that his age should not become an obstacle for the approval of liquor sales licence,” an excise official claimed.
The licence allotted to Wankhede was cancelled by the excise department earlier this month.
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