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    From DRI to NCB and back, Sameer Wankhede's controversial run-ins with B-town celebs

    Synopsis

    Wankhede joined as the zonal director of the NCB Mumbai with an initial tenure of one year and was given a four-month extension in August 2021.

    Sameer Wankhede
    Wankhede’s first tryst with fame happened during 2011 cricket World Cup.
    Sameer Wankhede courted controversy late last year after he carried out a drug bust at a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast during his stint as acting Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director. The government official, after a high-profile stint, is now moving to his parent organisation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) after his tenure at the anti-drugs agency ended and no extension given

    The DRI is an investigation agency under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

    After the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020, Wankhede was deputed to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zone in August, 2020 "on loan" from the DRI in the wake of the drugs probe being conducted by the agency.

    Wankhede joined as the zonal director of the NCB Mumbai with an initial tenure of one year and was given a four-month extension in August 2021.

    His tenure came to an end after he did not get a follow-up extension.

    Controversy’s Child
    While Wankhede became a household name in 2021 after the high-profile drugs-on-cruise case in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested, the officer has made headlines earlier in the past as well.

    The 42-year-old, who is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 2008 batch, has previously served in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Income Tax Air Intelligence Unit.

    During his time at the customs department of the Mumbai Airport, Wankhede handled many high-profile Bollywood personalities and their tantrums. From scanning celebrities for tax evasion to nabbing singer Mika Singh with unaccounted foreign currency, Wankhede who is a policeman’s son, has not been afraid to take on the high and mighty.

    The World Cup Trophy & Bollywood Celebrities
    Wankhede’s tryst with fame happened during 2011 cricket World Cup.

    Team India won the title after a close contest at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai but what the team held wasn't an original, but a replica of the trophy. The original cup was stuck at the Mumbai airport’s customs’ office due to non-payment of a 35 per cent duty on it.

    At that time, the 42-year-old was posted as the assistant commissioner at the airport customs department.

    Other celebrities such as Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Minissha Lamba and more had their share of run-ins with the officer at Mumbai airport customs.

    Wherever Wankhede travelled, he made news. In 2013, he joined the Central Excise department. During his short gig there, he questioned Anurag Kashyap, Vivek Oberoi, Mukesh Bhatt, Ram Gopal Verma and others for alleged service tax evasion.

    In a few months, Wankhede was then sent on deputation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) where he was posted till 2017.

    He then joined the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence as Joint Director in Mumbai.

    When Wankhede joined the NCB department in August 2020, the agency, which was probing the drugs link to the Rajput's death, arrested actress Rhea Chaktraborty and her brother Showik in the matter.
    Aryan KhanAgencies
    Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan.
    The anti-drugs agency later quizzed celebrities such as Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and more as it investigated the drugs nexus in Bollywood.

    Trouble At NCB
    While Wankhede has served in different agencies over the years, it's fair to say that his time in the NCB made the officer famous and controversial at the same time.

    Ever since the October 2021 raid that was carried out in Mumbai which initially saw eight arrests including Aryan Khan, the sequence of events turned political in no time, dominating studio discussions and Twitter barbs.

    Maharashtra state cabinet minister Nawab Malik was the first to single out Wankhede, accusing the officer of working in collusion with the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and taking steps based on politically-motivated agendas.

    The senior NCP leader called the entire raid "fake", alleging that the anti-drugs agency had let three others walk free from the detention due to their personal ties with the BJP.

    The war of words between Malik and Wankhede got worse with the officer writing a letter to the Mumbai Police and Union government in which he mentioned that his movements were being tracked.

    Malik levelled multiple charges of alleged misconduct and corruption against the officer, including a charge of forging his caste certificate.

    Wankhede, stood his ground, and denied all such allegations.

    Incidentally, the NCB, under Wankhede, had earlier arrested Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan in a narcotics case.

    Malik had also accused him of forging his birth certificate and had tweeted a photo of a document related to Wankhede's birth and claimed "the forgery began from here".

    Wankhede said he was "pained by the slanderous attacks by Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik." In a signed statement issued by the 42-year-old officer wrote that he belonged to a "multi-religious and secular family."

    "My father is a Hindu and my mother was a Muslim," the 2008 batch officer had said in his statement.

    Weighing in on the controversy, Wankhede's wife Kranti Redkar, who made her Bollywood debut in 2003 with Prakash Jha's 'Gangajal', later shared pictures of their marriage on Twitter.
    Sameer Wankhede with wife Kranti Redkar
    Sameer Wankhede with his wife Kranti Redkar. (Photo: Twitter)
    Wankhede was earlier married to Dr Shabana Qureshi, with whom he tied the knot in 2006 under the Special Marriage Act. Both of them divorced mutually through a civil court in 2016.

    He then got married to Redkar in 2017.

    During the allegations, Redkar said that the couple had never converted to any other religion. "Me and my husband Sameer are born Hindus. We have never converted to any other religion. We respect all religions. Sameer's father too is hindu married to my Muslim Mom in law who is no more. Sameer's ex-marriage was under special marriage act, divorced in 2016. Ours in hindu marriage act 2017," she had said on Twitter.

    Redkar and Wankhede are parents to twins, but the officer's busy schedule often keeps him away from home and family.

    Now one can only hope that the officer's return to DRI would bring end to the Malik versus Wankhede drama, and most likely break the spell of controversies following him.
    ( Originally published on Jan 05, 2022 )

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