‘Caught in spat between Wankhede, NCB dy DG’ | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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‘Caught in spat between Wankhede, NCB dy DG’

ByAbhishek Sharan
May 26, 2023 12:44 AM IST

Ashish Ranjan, a former Intelligence officer who had worked under Wankhede, approached Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s FIR registered on May 11 to probe corruption and extortion charges in the cruise drugs bust case

Mumbai: A couple of days after former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede sought additional police protection for him and his family, from Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, claiming they received threats on social media, Ashish Ranjan, a former Intelligence officer who had worked under Wankhede, approached Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s FIR registered on May 11 to probe corruption and extortion charges in the October 2021 Cordelia cruise alleged drugs bust case.

The agency had accused Wankhede and the others of conspiring to extort <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>25 crore from film star Shah Rukh Khan in exchange of not booking his son, Aryan, in the drugs bust case and subsequently obtaining a bribe of <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>50 lakh from the actor. (PTI)
The agency had accused Wankhede and the others of conspiring to extort 25 crore from film star Shah Rukh Khan in exchange of not booking his son, Aryan, in the drugs bust case and subsequently obtaining a bribe of 50 lakh from the actor. (PTI)

In his writ petition Ranjan stated that for reasons he is not privy to, Wankhede and then NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh allegedly had “ugly fights” in the course of the probe, and that he got sucked into the spat even though he had acted strictly under the orders of his superiors.

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The CBI FIR had named five persons, including Ranjan and Wankhede whose team had probed the drugs bust case, as accused in the case.

Ranjan has sought an interim protection from any coercive action on part of the CBI, just as Wankhede, who was granted the same by the Bombay High Court on May 19, till May 22, which was further extended till June 8. The agency had accused Wankhede and the others of conspiring to extort 25 crore from film star Shah Rukh Khan in exchange of not booking his son, Aryan, in the drugs bust case and subsequently obtaining a bribe of 50 lakh from the actor.

The CBI case was registered against Wankhede, Vishwa Vijay Singh, then NCB superintendent, Mumbai zonal unit, Ranjan, as well as individuals who were the case’s independent witnesses -- KP Gosavi, Sanville D’Souza, and unknown persons. Ranjan is currently an inspector with the Central Industrial Security Force. His petition was submitted to Delhi HC by his lawyers senior counsel Sanjay Srivastava and Shubhi Srivasatava.

Ranjan’s petition maintained that the CBI did not have the authority to register its May 11 FIR as the agency is not a police station as per section 154 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He claimed that the FIR was illegal as the CBI, according to the CBI Manual of 2005 as approved by the Supreme Court, cannot receive a complaint from an informant but can only receive it from a source information report/ central or state government’s instruction or directions of Constitutional courts.

“The informant based the complaint on an illegal inquiry report maliciously prepared by Gyaneshwar Singh, IPS 1999, DDG (Northern Region) and Chief Vigilance Officer, NCB, to cover up his own tracks, and that could not have been relied upon by the CBI being illegal,” Ranjan’s petition alleged.

“The alleged Special Enquiry Team under Singh was illegal and vitiated as it was tasked to enquire into the acts and conduct of Singh who had directly, in real time supervised the operations of NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Unit in Cordelia cruise ship case,” said the petition.

On Wednesday, Wankhede did not appear before CBI for questioning, citing personal reasons. Earlier on Saturday and Sunday, the agency had questioned the IRS officer for approximately three and five hours, respectively, as part of its probe.

Dismissing the charges, Wankhede had earlier said the CBI action was result of a “vendetta” on the part of a few NCB officials. Wankhede is learnt to have told the CBI that the allegations against him, pertaining to the arrest of Aryan being only an attempt for demanding money in lieu of his release/not booking him for possession of narcotics, were false and imaginary, agency sources said.

Meanwhile, the fifth accused in the CBI FIR, Sanville D’Souza has filed a petition in Bombay HC, seeking quashing of the FIR. It is listed before the vacation bench of the HC and will be heard on Friday.

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