NCB officer in Shah Rukh Khan's son raid sacked over another case

MUMBAI: Narcotics Control Bureau superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh who was part of the team that busted a drug-on-cruise party in 2021, involving superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and others, was dismissed from service for misconduct in another case registered in Delhi. He had been suspended in that case.
V V Singh, a class two rank officer who was posted in Assam at present, too was served with the dismissal notice last month. Officials said Singh was dismissed under the civil service conduct rules (CSCR).
‘NCB official was also probed by SIT following Nawab Malik’s allegations’
After an NCB superintendent, who was part of the 2021 drug bust on a cruise, was dismissed by the agency over misconduct in a Delhi case, an official said he was earlier suspended in the case and an inquiry had been initiated.
“He was dismissed from the service in connection with another case in which he was earlier suspended and an inquiry was initiated. He was also probed by the special investigation team (SIT) set up following allegations by NCP minister Nawab Malik,” said an official. Malik had made serious allegations that the NCB drug bust on the cruise was a fake case and had released images of witnesses accompanying officials and Aryan Khan to the NCB office and taking selfies with him.
Singh was already suspended in April last year while an investigation was being conducted by the NCB regarding his conduct. The inquiry was recently concluded in an unrelated case of misconduct, after which a decision was made to dismiss him from service, it said.
NCB director general Satya Narayan Pradhan has confirmed the dismissal but declined to elaborate on it. Following allegations against NCB’s Mumbai team, including former zonal director Sameer Wankhede, a separate vigilance inquiry was conducted into the cruise raids, which concluded in November 2021. As a result, departmental action was initiated against seven officers. However, the findings of the inquiry have not been disclosed to the public. Wankhede was later transferred to DG taxpayer service directorate in Chennai.
On October 2, 2021, Aryan Khan and others were arrested after a team led by Wankhede raided Cordelia cruise at the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal. A special investigation team filed a chargesheet against 14 people in May last year but gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan, saying no contraband was recovered from him. NCB had also alleged that Khan was part of an international syndicate but the allegations fell flat.