Aryan Khan case: Vigilance probe against NCB's Sameer Wankhede; officer tells court he is being targeted

Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede on Monday told a Mumbai sessions court that he was being threatened and targetted by some people for investigations into the Bollywood drugs case. 

Image: Sameer Wankhede at NCB office

Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede on Monday told a Mumbai sessions court that he was being threatened and targetted by some people for investigations into the Bollywood drugs case. Seeking a few minutes from the court to make a statement, the NCB officer said that there are efforts being made to influence investigation. 

Wankhede's remarks came even as NCB Director General SN Pradhan ordered a Vigilance probe against the NCB Zonal Director after charges of extortion were levelled against him in by independent witness in the Aryan Khan case. Pradhan was briefed at the NCB headquarters in New Delhi about developments that have taken place in the case. One of the witnesses in the case had alleged that he overheard another case witness KP Gosavi talked to a person over the phone during which an alleged bribe of Rs 8 crore was to be paid to Wankhede. 

Urging the court to take cognizance of the attempts being made, Wankhede said that he is being targeted since this case came to light. The officer said that his family was being targeted. They even posted a photograph on Monday, the officer said. Wankhede also claimed that agency officers are being threatened. 

Asserting that he had not done anything wrong in his entire career, the NCB Zonal Director said he was willing to submit before any kind of an investigation. To recall, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, especially Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik who accused the officer of indulging in extortion and distributed photos of his sister, Yasmeen Wankhede, to substantiate his claims. Malik claimed that there were attempts to implicate certain members of the film fraternity in fake cases.

Photo: Sameer Wankhede and Nawab Malik

In the affidavit that Wankhede filed in court on Monday, he said that the allegations levelled against him are misleading and maligning. Without naming Malik, Wankhede said the only reason why he believes that "a known political figure" would target him was that one of his relatives, Sameer Khan was arrested in a drugs case under the NDPS Act. Sameer Khan is Nawab Malik's son-in-law. The officer further noted that he was under a lurking threat of arrest as the investigation being conducted by him does not suit some vested interests.