IRS officer Sameer Wankhede’s controversy-laden tenure as the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) Mumbai Zonal Director is set to end today, December 31.
Wankhede, a 2008-batch IRS officer had been on deputation with the NCB since September 2020, where he was spearheading a high-profile case – a drug bust in a Mumbai cruise ship involving Bollywood celebrities.
Wankhede and his team allegedly recovered drugs during a raid, following which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested with seven others.
However, Wankhede's tenure was marked with a series of controversies, including his public spat with Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik.
During the course of the investigation, several allegations were leveled against Wankhede, accusing him of forgery and extortions.
In a series of tweets and comments, Nawab Malik had also accused Wankhede of using forged documents to get a government job under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category. He also claimed that the senior NCB officer was a Muslim.
While Wankhede denied these allegations, his father filed a defamation suit against Malik.
According to a report on Times of India, Wankhede had said, "As per the order issued in August, my deputation with NCB ends on 31 December. I will await instructions for further assignment."
(With inputs from TOI.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)