Aryan Khan drug case: Sameer Wankhede's controversial tenure at NCB ends

New Delhi, Jan 3: Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB)'s Mumbai Zone head Sameer Wankhede's tenure at the anti-drug agency has ended on 31 December and will report to the Director of DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) in Delhi from today.

The announcement came from the NCB after Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik made allegations on Wankhede seeking an extension of his tenure.

A 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service officer Wankhede was on deputation to the NCB since September 2020. He was earlier posted with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

Following the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Wankhede was involved in action against the drug syndicates allegedly involving Bollywood celebrities. In October last year, a team led by Wankhede raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast, allegedly recovered drugs and arrested several people including Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan.

But subsequently, questions were raised about the credentials of independent witnesses used by the NCB during the raid, and it was also alleged that there was an attempt to extort money from Shah Rukh Khan by NCB officials, PTI reported.

Eventually, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik targeted Wankhede and made several allegations against the NCB officer.

Malik alleged that Wankhede got the central government job by producing forged documents. The latter denied the allegations and filed defamation suit against the Maharashtra minister, whose son-in-law was earlier arrested by Wankhede in a drug case.

Meanwhile, Nawab Malik claimed that Sameer Wankhede was lobbying through some BJP leaders for the extension of his tenure in the NCB. "Despite negative report against Sameer Wankhede for his wrongdoings, some influential BJP leaders are pursuing with the Union Home Ministry to change his negative report to positive and get him an extension in NCB. Let them do that. After the order is issued, we will seek information under the RTI and expose the manner in which it has been done," Hindustan Times quoted the Maharashtra minister as saying in a press conference.