Over Rs 313 crore in cash has been seized by Election Commission since the announcement of the 16th general elections with Andhra Pradesh topping the list in cash and liquor interceptions during this period.
Former Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director Sameer Wankhede, accused of demanding a bribe from Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan Khan in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case, has claimed in his petition that the superstar praised the officer's "integrity" and pleaded with him to be kind to Aryan.
According to officials, this year there has been a three-fold increase in the total seizure, which was Rs 322 crore in 2021, Rs 347 crore in 2022 and Rs 1,021 crore so far in 2023.
A single bench of Justice N W Sambre also granted bail to his co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.
'We are also seeing the birth of new evil, the new face of drug distribution where human interface has reduced; consumers are using the Dark Web to source supplies and using cryptocurrencies as payment mode.'
The request is under "active consideration" of the Union home ministry, he said.
The police were also taken by surprise with what they witnessed -- a sophisticated setup for creating the synthetic drug, intense intoxicating smell inside the compound and the foreigners geared up with high-quality face masks.
The witness has been provided protection by the Mumbai police in the wake of revelations he made in his application.
In one of his statements before the NCB, Aryan Khan admitted that he started smoking ganja in the US in 2018 when he was doing graduation there, as per the chargesheet.
The Narcotic Control Bureau, which had told the court on Wednesday that Khan was involved in the conspiracy, illicit drug trafficking as well as its procurement and consumption, today claimed that 'evidence reveal Khan frequently took contraband substances'.
Based on the estimate, a courier bringing in 1 kg of gold currently worth around $40,000 at world prices could earn $470 if not caught.
Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Saturday asked why the NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede used a "family friend" as an independent witness in three investigations.
Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was on Thursday granted bail by the Bombay high court, 25 days after his arrest by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the case of seizure of banned drugs aboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast earlier this month, a drugs bust that triggered a series of controversies and put the central agency and its officials under the spotlight.
He had taken charge as the 25th director general of the Indian Coast Guard on July 19 last year.
Codeine-based formulations are under the scanner for misuse as a narcotic product.
market, was today seized from an illegal drug manufacturing unit in Jalgaon district in north Maharashtra and six persons were arrested, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials said.
The boat was brought to the Jakhau coast in Kutch district of Gujarat for further investigation.
On Saturday, an online marijuana sale racket was busted by Bhind police in Madhya Pradesh, leading to the arrest of two persons and seizure of 20 kilograms of the contraband, according to an official. The accused were operating the racket through a leading e-commerce firm, which received two-thirds of the profits generated, as per the official.
Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, approached the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, seeking bail in connection with the case of seizure of banned drugs aboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
During a review, the EC found that the performance of some officers was "unsatisfactory" and they were found "complacent, if not complicit" in various matters, including the illegal supply of liquor as a possible poll inducement, sources said.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized 205.6 kg heroin worth Rs 1,439 crore from a container near Kandla port in Gujarat and arrested an importer from Punjab in this connection following an extensive search operation, the DRI said on Monday.
The case of the CBI is that Wankhede and others accused had allegedly demanded Rs 25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not framing his son Aryan Khan following alleged seizure of drugs from a cruise ship.
D'Souza's anticipatory bail plea was rejected by special CBI judge S M Menjonge.
Referring to the statement of NCP leader Nawab Malik in which he had cast aspersions on NCB, the plea said it's high time the NCB is probed by a top court judge to unravel the truth.
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.
Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the cruise drugs seizure case, on Sunday claimed that a Narcotics Control Bureau officer and some other persons demanded Rs 25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan Khan in the case.
After hearing extensive arguments of the investigating agency NCB and defense lawyers on Thursday, special judge V V Patil posted the matter for orders on October 20.
In one of the biggest crackdowns on narcotic smuggling in Delhi, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the Delhi police have seized heroin with a street value of around Rs 62 crore in separate cases.
A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and SG Dige said the media reports have said the information is from Central Bureau of Investigation sources.
Officials were surprised at how quickly smugglers appraised the Covid situation to recruit jobless migrant workers to ship gold.
The Bombay High Court on Friday said Aryan Khan, son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, shall be released on a personal bond of Rs one lakh with one or two sureties of the same amount.
Panday was earlier questioned by the NCB for two days last week and was called again on Monday.
The CBI last month filed a first information report (FIR) against Wankhede and four others for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore bribe in return of not framing Aryan Khan in the drugs case.
Ananya Panday has been again called by the NCB on Monday, a senior NCB official said.
'How much has this time affected Aryan physically and emotionally?'
On legal front, Wankhede, who the NCB asserted has an impeccable service record, failed to get any relief related to an affidavit on the sensational extortion claims made by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, with a special court saying it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognisance of the document.
The narcotics substance worth Rs 775 crore in the international market was seized from a house belonging to key drug case accused Raji Haider Zaidi's sister in Muzaffarnagar on Sunday.
The Indian Coast Guard has seized 1,500 kg of heroin.
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.
Aryan, 23, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 from the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
