Anti-Drugs Agency Appoints New Officer To Probe Sameer Wankhede Case

Sameer Wankhede had led the drugs-on-cruise raid off Mumbai coast

New Delhi:

In a twist to the Sameer Wankhede case, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has shifted out the officer who was heading the special enquiry team (SET) and appointed a new central vigilance officer (CVO). The probe agency termed the transfer “routine”.

A new vigilance officer Neeraj Kumar Gupta was appointed CVO for three months after “grave allegations” were made by its former Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede following the drugs-on-cruise case of 2021.

The Ministry of Finance Deputy Director General (special wing) Neeraj Kumar Gupta, a Kerala cadre IPS officer of the 2005 batch, was appointed “part-time” CVO for three months, an order said.

NCB officials said following completion of the tenure of Gyaneshwar Singh, the IPS officer who headed the SET that probed the Wankhede case, a new officer was appointed.

“Singh was replaced by Gupta as per official procedure of changing the CVO after every three years,” a senior official said.

According to him, Mr Singh wrote to NCB Director General (DG) SN Pradhan and said he wanted to be “recused” from the CVO post on two grounds — heavy duty engagement of the operations wing that he is heading and some anonymous complaints made against him, and that he did not want a conflict of interest.

“It was found appropriate to appoint a new CVO as Singh’s tenure of three years had ended and that he had himself sought to hand over the charge given his full-time charge of NCB operations directorate that coordinates domestic and international action of the agency in coordination with all its field formations and other law enforcement agencies,” a source said.

Mr Singh, a 1999-batch Himachal Pradesh cadre Indian Police Service officer, is working as the DDG (operations, enforcement and operational control) at the NCB headquarters and was also designated as the CVO for the last three years.

The CVO is empowered to investigate complaints made against officials and staff of the NCB that investigates high-profile and sensitive drugs trafficking cases apart from handling other vigilance and anti-corruption matters.

The reports prepared by the CVO are sent for further action to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), cadre controlling authorities and others.

The operations wing headed by Mr Singh recently busted India’s highest-ever narcotics bust from the sea with the seizure of 3,300 kg drugs off the Gujarat coast in February, and it also unearthed an international drugs trafficking racket allegedly led by Jaffer Sadiq, a sacked functionary of the DMK in Tamil Nadu.

The NCB SET under Mr Singh had found alleged lapses on the part of Mr Wankhede and his team on majorly two counts — alleged irregularities in the conduct of the drugs-on-cruise raids, and violations under the Central Civil Services (CCS) Rules.

The SET submitted this report to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which had held that Mr Singh could not have been part of the enquiry team set up to probe alleged procedural lapses by IRS officer Wankhede in connection with the Cordelia cruise drugs case.

The CAT had also dismissed a review plea filed by the agency against this order.

The NCB Mumbai under Mr Wankhede had arrested actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and some others on drugs charges after they raided a cruise docked at Mumbai in October 2021. Another NCB officer DDG Sanjay Kumar Singh obtained sanction to proceed on voluntary retirement from service (VRS) on Thursday.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, a 1996-batch IPS officer of the Odisha cadre, headed a special investigation team (SIT) of the NCB that gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan and five others citing “lack of evidence” against them as it punched holes in the investigation carried out by the NCB Mumbai, headed by Mr Wankhede, in this case that made headlines.

Sanjay Kumar Singh is currently posted as the DDG (south western and southern region) and he is probing the role of Mr Wankhede in two other investigations undertaken by the NCB in Mumbai. He will leave the agency on April 30.