An FIR has been filed against NCB officer Sameer Wankhede for falsifying his age in order to secure a hotel license

In Mumbai’s Thane, an FIR was filed against an IRS official and former zonal director of Mumbai NCB Sameer Wankhede for forgery for allegedly getting a hotel permit via willful fabrication of his age.

According to Kopri police, the FIR was lodged on Saturday night on the allegation of State Excise Department officer Shankar Gogavale, who claimed that Wankhede was under the age of 18 when he obtained a license for Sadguru Bar in the city in 1996-97.

The Thane collector has issued a directive to revoke the bar’s license. According to the FIR, the former zonal NCB director was ineligible to sign these agreements, but he pretended to be a major on a Stamp paper in his agreement deed for Thane’s Sadguru Hotel.

Nawab Malik, a Maharashtra cabinet member, and NCP politician said in November last year that Wankhede had a permit room and bar in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, which he received while he was a teenager, and that this was unlawful.

Malik further stated that, while working for the government, Wankhede had a permit to run the permit room, which was against service norms. Wankhede later refuted the minister’s allegations. Following that, the state Excise department issued a notice to Wankhede about the bar license he received.

Following his reaction and investigation, the district collector found that Wankhede received the license on October 27, 1997, when he was less than 18 years old, as opposed to the permitted age of 21, according to an official. According to the order, Section 54 of the Prohibition Act has been used to terminate the license.

Malik made several charges against Wankhede after the latter conducted a raid on a cruise ship in October of last year and claimed to have seized narcotics onboard. Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood celebrity Shah Rukh Khan, and others were charged in the drugs-on-cruise case.