The scene was straight out of a Bollywood crime thriller. A police party disguising itself as revelers, books 20 tickets to a rave party being organized at a cruise ship. They board the Goa-bound ship from Mumbai around midnight. As the party reaches a crescendo in the wee hours of next day, and most of the 600-odd revelers are high on various psychotropic drugs, the cops flash their identity cards, and on gunpoint, frisk each and every person. They arrest 11 including soon of a top Bollywood actor.
Had it been on celluloid, the film would have gone by the script, but it was not reel but real-life drama enacted on October 2, 2021, and the arrested included Aryan Khan, the 22-year-old son of Shahrukh Khan aka SRK, whose fate now depends on the police investigation into this case.
The mastermind of this raid was Mr. Sameer Wankhede, Director (West Zone) in Narcotics Control Bureau, whose investigation and paperwork were so meticulous, that even a top criminal lawyer like Satish Manshinde could not convince the court to release Aryan Khan on bail.
But, arresting Aryan Khan is not Mr. Wankhede’s only claim to fame. He had been in a constant run-in with Bollywood for the past few years. He is the guy who led investigations into Rhea Chakraborty’s drugs case after her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide.
That led to a series of arrests of drug peddlers who had supplied substance to Bollywood actors and their lackeys. On successive tip-offs and peddlers’ statements, Mr. Wankhede summoned big stars like Dipika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, and Rakulpreet Singh.
Visit of each of these stars to the NCB office was converted into a big media event and speculations based on ‘leaks’ kept the atmosphere surcharged about the next ‘biggie’ to be summoned, interrogated, or may be arrested.
However, all such speculations proved to be false and even Rhea Chakraborty, projected as drug consumer-cum- supplier and alleged ‘murderer’ of Rajput, was let off. Mr. Wankhede might not have succeeded in this case, but he did seize a substantial amount of drugs from the house of Laughter Queen Bharti Singh and her husband Harsh Limbachia. Mr. Wankhede is said to have booked more than 2000 celebrities during his tenure in the customs.
In 2011, Mr. Sameer Wankhede had stalled the entry of the World Cup trophy at the Mumbai airport. The trophy, made in gold, was released only after customs duty was paid on it. In 2013, famous singer Mika Singh was caught at the airport with foreign currency by Mr. Wankhede.
His Bollywood connection doesn’t just stop here. Mr. Wankhede got married to small-time actor Kranti Redkar on March 29, 2017. She has acted in several Hindi and Marathi films. They are parents of twin daughters – Zia and Zaba.
Mr. Sameer Wankhede is a 2008 batch IRS officer, presently on deputation to NCB – Narcotics Control Bureau. His earlier postings include Deputy Commissioner of Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) at Mumbai Airport, Additional SP of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Joint Commissioner of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Mr. Wankhede has confiscated drugs worth Rs 17,000 crore in the last two years. He is the recipient of the Union Home Minister’s medal for excellence for an investigation in August 2021. This award was constituted in 2018 to promote high professional standards of investigation in crimes. In the Indian film industry, Mr. Sameer Wankhede idolized action hero Ajay Devgan as he always paid his taxes. No wonder his colleagues often call him Singham.
But why is Mr. Sameer Wankhede so obsessed with Bollywood? Does he really want to free the film industry of drugs or does this have something to do with his actor wife, Kranti? Million Dollar Question! Isn’t it?
