Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Sunday said attempts were made to silence him in the drugs-extortion-caste certificate case involving the Narcotic Control Bureau’s (NCB) Mumbai zone director Sameer Wankhede and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan who was jailed for over a little less than a month in an alleged rave party bust case.

Malik, a spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a partner in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), has accused Wankhede of using forged documents to obtain a government job under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category and said the senior NCB officer is a Muslim. All the allegations made by Malik after the drugs-on-cruise case grabbed national headlines have been refuted by Wankhede.

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Speaking to reporters, Malik further said that while he was asked to stop from going ahead with his accusations against Wankhede, the Bollywood star was told his son was trapped as he spoke (his mind). “When I started (raising allegations against the NCB chief), people I know told me to stop. They said that Shah Rukh Khan is being told that his son is trapped as he (Khan) speaks. My lawyer son was being brainwashed by other lawyers. He used to tell me to stop,” the Maharashtra minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“Some people said that matters relating to drugs involve money, goons and I could lose my life. Attempts were made to silence me. But I had said that we will take this to a logical end. If someone says they will kill Nawab Malik, then I’ll die the day I have to,” he further said.

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Malik said he stood by statements and his fight was against fraud and not religion or caste. “I stand by my statement that he’s (Sameer Wankhede) on post by forging SC certificate. He snatched away a poor SC man’s rights. Fight against fraud not religion/caste. I urge Arun Haldar (vice chairman of National Commission for SC) to maintain his post’s dignity,” he added.

Meanwhile, state social justice minister Dhananjyay Munde has said if someone raised objections to the validity of the caste certificate of Wankhede and filed a complaint with his department, the matter would be probed.

Aryan, who was arrested along with Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha and several others earlier this month after the NCB conducted a raid on a Goa-bound cruise off Mumbai and claimed to have seized drugs onboard, was released from Arthur Road jail on Saturday, two days after the Bombay high court granted them bail in the case.