Sameer Wankhede seeks extra protection; CBI to again question him on May 24

Former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede has written to Mumbai police commissioner seeking additional police protection for him and his family, claiming they received threats on social media. The CBI has also called him for questioning on Wednesday as part of its probe into corruption charges against him and four others in connection with the October 2021 Cordelia cruise drugs bust case.

Former Mumbai zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede, on Monday wrote to city police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar seeking additional police protection for him and his family, police officers said.

HT Image

In his letter, the IRS officer claimed that he and his wife Kranti Redkar had been receiving threats on social media for the last four days.

Phansalkar’s office could not be contacted for a comment.

Wankhede investigated terror cases during his three-year stint with the National Investigation Agency as additional superintendent of police and hence, the Mumbai police has already deployed a police constable with him.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has again called Wankhede for questioning on Wednesday, as part of its probe into corruption charges against him and four others in connection with the October 2021 Cordelia cruise drugs bust case in which actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan was arrested.

On Saturday and Sunday, Wankhede was questioned for more than three hours and five hours respectively.

The CBI on May 11 booked Wankhede, Vishwa Vijay Singh, then NCB superintendent, and Ashish Ranjan, then intelligence officer of the NCB’s Mumbai zonal unit, as well as individuals namely KP Gosavi, Sanville D’Souza, and unknown persons under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.