A Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising officers from the Operations Branch of Narcotics Control Bureau Headquarters in New Delhi arrived in Mumbai on Saturday to take over six cases, including the drugs-on-cruise case from NCB Mumbai Zonal Unit being probed by Sameer Wankhede.
Speaking to media persons at Mumbai airport, NCB Deputy Director General Sanjay Kumar Singh that they have taken the probe of over a total of six cases.
He further said that the team will take the assistance of NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
"We have taken over a group of 6 cases. He (Sameer Wankhede) is the zonal director of Mumbai, we will definitely take his assistance in the investigation," Singh said.
Speaking toover the phone, an NCB official said that Sameer Wankhede is an Officer of Zonal Director Rank which is equivalent to the rank of a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and such a senior officer does not become the investigating officer of any case.
"He/She just supervises any investigation of the zone. So it's baseless to say that Sameer Wankhede will cease to investigate these 6 cases. Actually, he was never investigating these cases," he said.
Commenting over the developments, Wankhede said: "I was never the investigating officer of the cases. I am still the zonal director. I have not been removed from my posts. In fact, I demanded in the petition to investigate the allegations over me by central agencies."
"I have not been removed from the investigation. It was my writ petition in court that the matter be probed by a central agency. So Aryan case and Sameer Khan case are being probed by Delhi NCB's SIT. It is in coordination between NCB teams of Delhi and Mumbai," he told ANI.
NCB Deputy Director South-Western Region General Mutha Ashok Jain said a total of six cases including Aryan Khan's case and 5 others of the Mumbai zone will be now investigated by teams from Delhi. "It was an administrative decision," Jain said.A team of Delhi NCB is arriving in Mumbai tomorrow.
According to sources, the Mumbai NCB team under Wankhede will also not be probing the case against Sameer Khan, son-in-law of Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik."Sameer Wankhede has been removed from 5 cases including the Aryan Khan case. There are 26 cases in all that need to be probed. This is just the beginning... a lot more has to be done to clean this system and we will do it," the Maharashtra minister tweeted.
Earlier on Tuesday, Wankhede said, "The drug mafia is trying to frame him and his family in false cases." He has been accused of extortion and forging documents to secure a government job.
Malik had alleged that Wankhede was born a Muslim but he forged documents, including a caste certificate, to pass off as a Scheduled Caste (SC) person to get recruitment under quota after clearing the UPSC exams.
( With inputs from ANI )
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