5 convicted in Wankhede-era drug-seizure case; court makes no mention of Dawood-linked syndicate

Special Judge GT Pawar on Tuesday upheld some parts of the NCB’s case relating to recoveries from the accused while rejecting claims of larger recoveries for not being backed by forensic reports

MUMBAI: A special court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has convicted five people for possession of drugs in a 2021 case that had grabbed national headlines, with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) alleging the accused were part of a Dawood Ibrahim-linked synthetic drug trafficking syndicate operating across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Bhiwandi.

5 convicted in Wankhede-era drug-seizure case; court makes no mention of Dawood-linked syndicate

Special Judge GT Pawar on Tuesday upheld some parts of the NCB’s case relating to recoveries from the accused while rejecting claims of larger recoveries for not being backed by forensic reports. He acquitted five other accused in the case, and the order did not make any references to alleged connections of the accused with a Dawood Ibrahim-linked syndicate.

The case arose from a series of raids conducted by the NCB in January and May 2021, when Sameer Wankhede was the agency’s zonal director.

The NCB alleged that Parvez Khan alias Chinku Pathan operated a narcotics network from a flat in Ghansoli, while Mohammad Arif Bhujwala, who has been sentenced for 15 years, operated from multiple rooms in Noor Manzil at Chinchbunder in south Mumbai. The NCB alleged that Pathan sourced mephedrone (MD), a synthetic drug, from Bhujwala, and NCB officers who raided Pathan’s Ghansoli flat claimed to have recovered 52.8 grams of MD, a substance suspected to be heroin, a pistol with five live cartridges, digital weighing machines, heat-sealing equipment, packaging material and cash.

The order dated May 19 noted how NCB teams later searched multiple rooms in Noor Manzil at Chinchbunder and recovered large quantities of alleged narcotics and precursor chemicals. Among these, “one transparent zip lock polythene containing white crystal substance” tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 280 grams, the court said.

The prosecution claimed that the NCB recovered 5.375 kg of MD, 6.126 kg of ephedrine, and 990 grams of methamphetamine from Noor Manzil. However, after examining the forensic evidence, the court held that only part of the alleged drug haul against Bhujwala was proved, encompassing 670 grams and 35 grams of MD.

The court also noted major inconsistencies in forensic evidence, referring to chemical analysis reports that showed that heroin, ephedrine and methamphetamine were not detected in several samples from substances the NCB had claimed were narcotics.

The order referred extensively to the testimony of Wankhede, who appeared as a prosecution witness during the trial, and admitted during cross examination that the information notes did not contain specific numbers and that he “could not produce contemporary written evidence proving it was prepared at the exact time and date mentioned”.

Despite the shortcomings, the court rejected defence arguments that the prosecution case failed merely because some panch witnesses were not examined or because procedural lapses were shown.

“Non-examination of panchas is not fatal if evidence of other witnesses is found to be reliable,” the court said. The prosecution had proved recoveries from Pathan, Bhujwala, Salman Khan, Vikrant Jain and Haris Khan, the court said.

Bhujwala deserved punishment beyond the statutory minimum because of the quantity of recoveries ultimately proved against him, the court said and sentenced him to 15 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹2 lakh. Pathan, Salman Khan and Vikrant Jain were handed five years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹50,000 each, while Haris Khan was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year and fined ₹10,000.

Those acquitted were Rahul Kumar Verma, Zakir Hussain Fazal Huk Shaikh, Md Aun Javed Haider Sayed, Mohammad Faaran Khan and Md Zaman Hidaytullah Khan. One accused, Hussain Bilal Telwala, remains absconding.