Top Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede has claimed that he is under surveillance, and that his movements were being tracked by Maharashtra police officers. Wankhede's allegations come amid an ongoing high-profile investigation into a drug bust involving Bollywood celebrities, which the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance had claimed was "influenced" by the BJP. NCB zonal head Wankhede was also the chief investigator in the 2020 drug case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, and several other matters related to narcotics involving high-profile people.
According to his complaint, Wankhede had been regularly visiting a cemetery in suburban Oshiwara where his mother was buried after her death in 2015. Two officials, reportedly from the Oshiwara police station, allegedly went to the cemetery and took CCTV footage to monitor Wankhede's movements.
The NCB is in the eye of the storm following the raid on a Goa-bound cruise ship last Saturday, the recovery of banned drugs and the arrest of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan. The incident had taken a political turn when Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik claimed that the raid was "fake" and that "outsiders" were involved in it.
"After raid on the cruise ship off Mumbai coast, [NCB's Sameer] Wankhede had said [first] that 8-10 people were detained. But, the truth is that 11 people were detained. Later, three people—Rishabh Sachdeva, Prateek Gaba and Amir Furniturewala—were released," he alleged, reported news agency ANI. "On whose directions did the NCB release the three people? We think there might have been some talk between Wankhede and BJP leaders," he said.
The NCB had hit back, claiming that all allegations levelled against the agency were "baseless, motivated afterthoughts and prejudicial". "We do not see any political party and religion. We do our job professionally," Wankhede had said.
Top BJP leaders had come out in support of the agency. Pravin Darekar, who is the leader of opposition, had said it was improper to raise doubts against the agencies like the NCB, which is involved in curbing the menace of drugs. "He [Malik] is making only political statements. The claims made by Malik are baseless. If he has any proof then he should give inputs to the investigating agency," he said. "Nawab Malik and NCB's relation is well-known. I don't want to talk about his son-in-law. Whenever he [Malik] gets a chance, he tries to vent out his anger against the NCB. The NCB has very clearly clarified its stand," the BJP leader added.