MUMBAI: The Mumbai police have decided to step in to probe allegations levelled as part of the continuing back-and-forth between Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and Mumbai zonal chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede after receiving six complaints, people familiar with the matter said.

A senior Mumbai police officer said four of the six complaints levelled allegations against Wankhede or other NCB officials. The other two accuse Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik of trying to disturb communal harmony by spotlighting Sameer Wankhede’s religion and allegedly trying to intimidate the trial court judge and Wankhede.

“An officer of the rank of assistant commissioner of police will enquire into all these matters and we will register an FIR (First Information Report) if the material discloses commission of a cognizable offence,” the senior police officer said.

One of the complaints was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar who complained to the Kurla police station that NCP leader Nawab Malik brought a religious angle in the ongoing probe by the NCB in an attempt to disturb communal harmony among Hindus and Muslims.

The second complaint filed with the Malad police station seeks registration of an FIR against Malik and unknown people for conspiring, threatening and intimidating the trial court judge and Wankhede, who is supervising the probe in the cruise drug bust and for allegedly giving political shelter to the drug mafia.

NCP leader Malik in a series of attacks has levelled serious allegations against Wankhede.

One of the complaints is from Prabhakar Sail, a panch witness in the case, who went public with his allegation that an extortion racket was at work after the cruise ship drug case was taken up.

However, the startling allegations made by Sail forced the NCB to launch a vigilance probe by its deputy director-general of NCB Gyaneshwar Singh. In a notarised affidavit, Sail alleged that he overheard his former employer Kiran Gosavi, who also is a witness in the NCB case, talking to a person about settling the matter for ₹18 crore and that amount of Rs. 8 crore would be required to be paid to a senior NCB official

Malik on Tuesday cited a letter purportedly written by an unnamed employee of the federal drug enforcement agency, alleging that Wankhede framed innocent people in 26 fake drug cases. He also claimed that Wankhede engaged two private persons to intercept the phones of the people to frame them.

There was no immediate response from Sameer Wankhede to the NCP leader’s fresh allegations.