NCB’s ex-zonal chief Sameer Wankhede transferred to Chennai
The development comes just days after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) gave a clean chit to Aryan, following which the ministry of home affairs (MHA) recommended action against Wankhede.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Monday transferred Sameer Wankhede, the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who wrongly arrested actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in a drug case last year, to Chennai.
When contacted, Wankhede refused to comment on his transfer.However, on the morning of May 30 Wankhede had tweeted: I don’t harp on the negative because if you do, then there’s no progression. There’s no forward movement. You got to always look on the bright side of things, and we are in control. Like, you have control over the choices you make.”
The development comes just days after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) gave a clean chit to Aryan, following which the ministry of home affairs (MHA) recommended action against Wankhede for a “shoddy probe” in a drug bust on Cordelia, a cruise ship, on October 2, 2021.
A team led by Wankhede had arrested 20 persons in the bust, including those like Aryan who did not have any drugs on them. The NCB, which filed a chargesheet at the special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court on May 27, dropped charges in six of the accused.
According to an order issued by the CBIC, Wankhede’s parent cadre, he has been transferred to the office of director general of taxpayers’ services (DGTS) in Chennai with immediate effect. He was posted as additional commissioner at the officer of director general of analytics and risk management (DGARM), Mumbai which also comes under CBIC.
Wankhede was removed from the probe, and an enquiry was initiated against him, after allegations of corruption were made by politicians, including state minority development minister Nawab Malik. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by deputy director general Sanjay Singh took over probe in the cruise ship case as well as other cases investigated by Wankhede.
People familiar with the developments said the NCB’s vigilance enquiry against Wankhede’s raid and subsequent arrest of Aryan Khan on October 3 will be finalised soon, following which a report will be submitted to the government. The government will then take a decision to initiate disciplinary action against him.
Government officials said on Friday that action has also been initiated against Wankhede for allegedly submitting a false caste certificate to secure a job in the civil services under the Scheduled Caste quota, an allegation which was first levelled by Malik last year.