Iqra Qureshi, an elusive drug operator in Dongri, becomes the NCB's prime target after confessions expose her as the key figure in a mephedrone network. Despite months of surveillance, she remains a step ahead of the authorities. A sudden tip-off leads to a raid on her home, where officers recover a significant drug consignment and arrest her-though her composure hints the story may not truly end there.
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has overturned the transfer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede from Mumbai to Chennai, ruling that the revenue department violated its own guidelines. Wankhede, known for his role in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case involving Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, had claimed his transfer was punitive and a consequence of his actions at the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The CAT found procedural lapses and potential bias in the transfer decision, stating that transfer policies must be implemented fairly and transparently.
Wankhede presented his version and official documents related to the raid, which took place in October last year at the international cruise terminal in Mumbai, before NCB deputy director general for the northern region Gyaneshwar Singh.
The tenure of controversial Narcotics Control Bureau Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede with the federal anti-narcotics agency has ended and his services have been put at the disposal of his parent organisation Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, officials said on Monday.
Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Friday moved a petition before the Bombay high court seeking quashing of a first information report (FIR) filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore bribe from superstar Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted searches at the premises of former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede after filing an FIR against him and four others for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case, officials said.
The central agency booked Wankhede and four others on May 11 for alleged criminal conspiracy and threat of extortion, besides under provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint by the NCB.
"In the wee hours of October 3, I came to know that the celebrity who was caught on the ship was Aryan Khan. That time Aryan told Gosavi that he wanted to talk to his manager Pooja Dadlani. Gosavi conveyed Aryan's message. That time Gosavi told me that Aryan Khan was clean and no drugs were found in his possession. He said we can help him (Aryan Khan)," D'Souza claimed.
Former Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) chief Sameer Wankhede appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Mumbai for the second day on Sunday in a case in which he is accused of demanding Rs 25 crore bribe from superstar Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case, an official said.
The SET's findings have now been taken on record by the Central Bureau of Investigation which recently raided the 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service officer after it filed an FIR against him for corruption and alleged violation of rules in the raids that took place at the Cordelia cruise berthed at the Mumbai coast on October 2, 2021.
D'Souza's anticipatory bail plea was rejected by special CBI judge S M Menjonge.
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday sought to know why the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was saving Kashif Khan, one of the organisers of the cruise party where the NCB conducted a raid last month, and what was his relationship with the anti-drugs agency officer Sameer Wankhede.
The order says that Wankhede belongs to Mahar caste, which is a Scheduled Caste (SC).
Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede is trying to show the alleged messages exchanged with film superstar Shah Rukh Khan as certificate of integrity, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Bombay high court on Monday during a hearing of a petition of the official who is accused of seeking Rs 25 crore as bribe from the actor for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case.
The Narcotics Control Bureau's deputy director general, northern region, Gyaneshwar Singh, who is heading the departmental vigilance probe into allegations of extortion in the drugs-on-cruise case, arrived at the agency's office in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The agency had called him a hostile witness after he made the allegations.
The anti-drugs agency had earlier arrested nine people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, after raiding the Goa-bound ship on Saturday.
Wankhede is facing the vigilance probe by NCB after an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise case, in which Aryan Khan is one of the accused, claimed of overhearing a discussion of a Rs 25 crore pay-off, including Rs 8 crore for Sameer Wankhede.
Prabhakar Sail, who claims to be the bodyguard of NCB witness KP Gosavi, last month alleged in an affidavit that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal after Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB.
The Bombay high court had on Thursday granted bail to Merchant and Dhamecha along with their co-accused Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.
Ananya's father Chunky Panday accompanied her to the NCB office located at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai, where they reached around 4 pm.
Sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau visited the residence of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Thursday for seeking certain material related to their investigation into a cruise drugs party case in which the actor's son is an accused, a senior NCB official said.
With this, the anti-drugs agency has so far arrested 17 people in the case, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, and some "high-profile organisers" belonging to a Delhi-based event management company.
During the period of COVID-19 lockdown, no such actionable inputs were received by NCB revealing the nexus between people in the film industry and drug traffickers'
NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede told PTI that Firoz Nadiadwala was summoned by the anti-drugs agency earlier in the day, but he failed to appear.
The officer entered the NCB office in the R K Puram area through a back entry gate and is understood to have met his senior officers.
Officials of the NCB, which filed its chargesheet in a Mumbai court, said Aryan Khan and five others had not been named due to 'lack of sufficient evidence'.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Bharatiya also alleged that Deshmukh had met a drug peddler and Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's aide Chinku Pathan at the Sahyadri state guest house in Mumbai when a strict lockdown was in force.
The witness has been provided protection by the Mumbai police in the wake of revelations he made in his application.
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik has stated before the Bombay high court that he spoke out against Sameer Wankhede as people have the right to know how the Narcotics Control Bureau official got his job 'illegally.'
The court also modified another condition laid down in the bail order that required him to furnish his itinerary to the NCB every time he travels out of Mumbai.
The complainant alleged that Malik made "false and derogatory" remarks against him and his family members.
Fadnavis said, "Nawab Malik and his family members were part of a company which purchased land in Kurla (area of Mumbai) at a very low rate by making some fictitious documents. There are four such land purchase deals where I can firmly say that Malik has entered into land deals with the underworld."
The four-five member team, led by NCB's Deputy Director General (northern region) Gyaneshwar Singh, is also likely to visit a few other places and will also record the statement of Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the case.
The action has been taken on 'administrative grounds', and as these six have 'wider and inter-state ramifications', they have been transferred to the operations unit in Delhi, NCB Deputy Director General (north-west region) Mutha Ashok Jain told PTI.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Malik said he was not fighting a battle of caste or religion, but highlighting how a government job was obtained on a 'bogus' caste certificate.
Wankhede filed a petition and sought an urgent hearing, saying he feared arrest by police over allegations of extortion against him in the case related to alleged drug bust on a cruise ship involving actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan khan.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected an application seeking pre-arrest bail filed by Samville D'Souza, whose name had cropped up in connection with allegations of pay-off in the case of drug seizure in which Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, was arrested.
The Delhi high court will hear on Monday a plea by leading Bollywood producers seeking to restrain Republic TV and Times Now from making or publishing allegedly "irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks" against the film industry and conducting media trials against its members on various issues. The lawsuit by four Bollywood industry associations and 34 leading producers, which was filed on October 12, will come up for hearing before Justice Rajiv Shakdher.
The actress sought an interim order against the media till the time the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Mumbai, completes the investigation and files an appropriate report before the competent court.
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