Sameer Wankhede transferred to Chennai after 'shoddy' probe in Aryan Khan case

Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede, who headed the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Mumbai when the agency arrested several persons, including Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan in the controversial drugs-on-cruise case last year, was on Monday, May 30, transferred to the DG Taxpayer Service Directorate in Chennai, an official said.

The NCB, which recently filed a chargesheet in the drugs-on-cruise case, gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan, while an SIT set up by the anti-drug agency claimed the probe led by Wankhede had lapses. The Union Home Ministry has ordered the government to initiate a probe into Wankhede’s “shoddy” investigation into the case. The controversial officer was also in the news during his tenure as Mumbai NCB zonal director for his probe into the alleged drug case linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

After the end of his tenure at the NCB, the 2008-batch IRS officer was shifted to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Mumbai earlier this year. Wankhede is likely to take up his Chennai posting on June 10, the official said.

Four day ago, on May 27, the NCB filed its chargesheet in the sensational drugs-on-cruise case, in which Aryan Khan’s name was not included. Besides Aryan Khan, 19 other accused were arrested in the case. All the accused, except two, are currently out on bail.

In March this year, the special court had granted a 60-day extension to the probe agency to file the chargesheet. Aryan Khan was arrested in the case by the NCB on October 3 last year and was released from jail later that month after being granted bail. However, in November last year, Sameer Wankhede was taken off the investigation into the case. Officials cited "administrative grounds" for the decision to transfer the six cases, which also include the one involving the son-in-law of Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik who had launched a tirade against Wankhede and levelled several allegations against him.