After flak for Aryan Khan drugs case, Sameer Wankhede sent to Chennai tax wing

MUMBAI: Sameer Wankhede, the officer who probed the narcotics-related cases against Rhea Chakraborty and Aryan Khan, has been transferred to the Directorate General of Tax Payer Services (DGTS), Chennai as additional commissioner. He has been posted in the same rank that he has been holding for the last two years. With inquiries currently on against him for alleged service violations and his present tenure in the Risk Management Division under the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence not yet complete, the shift is being referred to as not a usual transfer, said sources.
On Monday, the vigilance unit of Wankhede's parent organisation, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), recorded his statement into a series of complaints against him.

Wankhede’s caste cert not being probed now
The Directorate General of Tax Payer Services (DGTS), where former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal chief Sameer Wankhede is headed, is into Taxpayer Services, Stakeholder Consultation & Grievance Redressal, according to the government website. This includes laying down service standards and monitoring, evaluating and reviewing the same from time to time to assess their effectiveness and efficiency, says the website.
His conduct in Mumbai is now under the scanner. An internal review by the NCB had faulted the officer’s investigation methods in the Aryan Khan case. Wankhede was taken on loan by the NCB from the CBIC. He is currently posted with the Risk and Management Division.
Sources said the vigilance directorate in Mumbai was forwarded a series of complaints sent to the Union finance ministry against the officer. These include the alleged securing of a bar licence when he was a minor. Wankhede had obtained the permit for the bar on October 27, 1997 when he was less than 18 years of age against the required age of 21. It has been alleged that Wankhede did not mention his date of birth but claimed that he was an adult.
NCP leader Nawab Malik had complained to the state excise wing, chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) and the finance ministry. Wankhede, when contacted, denied the allegations.
Wankhede has filed two petitions (criminal and civil) in the Bombay high court against the allegations made by Nawab Malik and the actions initiated by the state against him. Wankhede has also filed a contempt of court petition against Malik for his defamatory statements against Wankhede’s family besides another before the Aurangabad bench of the high court.
It is learnt that the vigilance cell has scrutinised the officer’s tax and property returns. Another aspect taken up by the vigilance cell pertains to issues emanating from complaints made. The source of money for his trip to foreign countries in recent years will also be examined, as government officials when being granted approval for foreign travel are required to submit detailed information regarding the source of funds, sources said. Wankhede, however, denied that the vigilance cell has sought information on these issues.
The allegation that Wankhede obtained a fake scheduled caste certificate to become an Indian Revenue Service officer is perhaps the only issue that is currently not being looked at by the central vigilance cell; as of now, the state government is the competent authority to probe into it.