NCB Delhi SIT in Mumbai to take over Aryan Khan drug case being probed by Sameer Wankhede

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising officers from the Operations Branch of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Headquarters in New Delhi arrived in Mumbai on Saturday to handle six drugs cases, including the Aryan Khan case, that was being probed by Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

Speaking to media persons at Mumbai airport, NCB Deputy Director General Sanjay Kumar Singh that they have taken over the investigation of six cases and will take Sameer Wankhede's assistance in the same.

"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.

According to an NCB official, Sameer Wankhede is an Officer of Zonal Director, 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 'stop' investigating these 6 cases. He was actually never investigating these cases," the official told ANI.

Refuting rumours of his 'removal' from the cases, 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."

Wankhede had himself filed a writ petition in the court, asking for the matters to be investigated by a central agency. Now, the Aryan Khan 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 said. 

Along with the Mumbai cruise drugs bust case, the case involving Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan is also being taken over by the NCB's central SIT. 

Sameer Wankhede versus Nawab Malik

Earlier on Tuesday, Wankhede had alleged that the 'drug mafia' was trying to frame him and his family in false cases. He has been accused by Nawab Malik of extortion and forging documents to secure a government job. 

The NCP leader had alleged that Wankhede was born a Muslim but he forged his caste certificate to pass off as a Scheduled Caste (SC) candidate to get recruitment under quota after clearing the UPSC exams. He had also claimed that Wankhede used to extort money from celebrities by threatening to frame them in false drugs cases. 

After the six cases under Wankhede were taken over the by central NCB team, Malik considered the development to be a win for his own crusade against the Zonal Director. Taking to Twitter, he said, there are 26 cases investigated by Sameer Wankhede, all of which need to be probed.