Sameer Wankhede’s tenure as the zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)’s Mumbai unit has come to an end. After the departure of Sameer Wankhede, NCB is now preparing to bring about a major change in the way it operates. This has ranged from seeking legal advice on using WhatsApp chats as evidence, to shifting focus from small buyers to large suppliers of drugs.
The agency has already taken some steps to save its image from getting worse. Especially in view of the previous high-profile case involving Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, in which the agency had faced a lot of notoriety.
Top NCB officials were not “happy” with the “way” of working of Sameer Wankhede. In a recent meeting with Deputy Director Generals of NCB, Director General SN Pradhan made it clear that “any unprofessional method will not be tolerated”. A top government official told our affiliate channel News18 that the agency would focus on larger consignments and suppliers rather than wasting resources on “small quantities” of drugs.
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Further, the focus will be on gathering primary witnesses rather than corroborating evidence and the agency will refrain from doing any “shoddy” work that further damages its image.
Wankhede was sent back to his cadre on Monday after he was denied an extension of service in the NCB. He was sent to NCB on ‘loan basis’ and since August 2020 he was serving as NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Director. Recently, Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan came into limelight for the arrest of Shahrukh Khan’s son in an alleged drug party case organized on a cruise.
According to sources, the NCB is no longer inclined to appoint officers in the agency on ‘loan basis’ as was done in two ‘rare’ cases, including those in Wankhede.
A senior NCB official said, “We want such officers who can serve the agency dedicatedly for a long period and can dedicate their time to the cause of the agency. The Home Ministry is also sending officers of all agencies on deputation. is interested.”
The official further said that a former DG had appointed two officers, including Sameer Wankhede, on a ‘loan basis’ without following the formalities. Both of them no longer work with NCB. “The tenure of such officers is very limited. It would be better for the agency to bring officers on deputation in future as we also have the agency’s expansion plan,” he said.
Further, the NCB has decided to seek legal advice on matters where WhatsApp chats can be used as evidence. Also, the agency will take legal advice from its team before filing a chargesheet in cases like Rhea Chakraborty and Aryan Khan, where WhatsApp chats can play an important role during court hearings.
“The cases based on WhatsApp chat are under question. Hence, we will seek legal advice before filing the chargesheet in cases where there is no material evidence other than WhatsApp chats,” the official said. He also said that cases based only on WhatsApp chats will no longer be considered, with emphasis on primary evidence and raids based on a pre-determined standard.
The NCB, on the other hand, will now focus on tracing the racket of large drug suppliers, rather than its ‘method’ of chasing down small buyers of drugs and then finding their suppliers.
A senior NCB official said, “In the case of Aryan Khan, there was no focus on the suppliers and the entire investigation was focused on the buyers with small quantities. We will focus our investigation on the suppliers who will lead us to the buyer with the appropriate evidence and witnesses. If they are associated with illegal drugs, we will keep searching for names, no matter how big they are.”
Political uproar was also seen regarding Sameer Wankhede. Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik has accused Wankhede of forging documents to get a government job, lying about his religion, arresting people by making “fake” cases and running a recovery racket. However, Wankhede has denied all these allegations.
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