Enquiry against 2 constables for ‘following’ NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede

Mumbai commissioner of police (CP) has ordered a departmental enquiry against two constables, who have been accused of monitoring the movements of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. An additional CP-rank officer has been given the charge of the enquiry.

The constables, Umesh Shalik Soyanke and Vinod Ankush Mane, support the detection teams at Oshiwara police station, said a source.

Constables Umesh Shalik Soyanke and (right) Vinod Ankush Mane

"The constables visited the Oshiwara Qabristan along with the daughter of a state minister, and had demanded the Digital Video Recorder (DVR), but did not get it as in the absence of an official letter. But the daughter insisted for the CCTV camera footage of Wankhede, and we gave them in a pen drive," said a source at Qabristan.

However, Qabristan's trustee Ahad Khan denied any such incident. The enquiry was initiated after Wankhede submitted a letter to Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey's office earlier this week. Sources in the DGP office said the complaint letter was forwarded to the CP. The NCB officer had also secured the footage of the constables from their visit to the graveyard, and named them in the letter, said a source. Wankhede visits the cemetery regularly to pay respects to his mother who died in 2015.

Screengrab of the two constables when they visited Oshiwara Qabristan to seek the DVR

NCB sources told mid-day, "The constables had been asked to keep a close watch on the movement of Wankhede to implicate him in a false case. They had been asked to observe who he meets and what he carries, but he (Wankhede) visits his mother's grave every day."

"This could also be dangerous, as he is alone in Qabristan and doesn't carry any weapon," said one of the sources.

‘On routine work'

mid-day spoke to both the constables who admitted that they "visited the Oshiwara Qabristan, but for routine work".

"I had visited the Oshiwara Qabristan on my own as a part of my routine work. There are theft cases in the area, so I had gone to check if the suspects were captured in the CCTV camera," said Mane. Constable Soyanke also said they went there for routine work.

"The visit was not to keep an eye on anyone... I have only seen him [Wankhede] in the news. Why will a constable follow him?" he added.

Mane said, "He [Wankhede] is a very senior officer and he has been doing a good job to eradicate drug menace from the city. Every police officer is proud of his work. Why will I do such a despicable act?"

All the high-ranking officers of Mumbai police are tight-lipped on the matter.

The NCB has been facing brickbats over the role of independent witnesses Manish Bhanushali and K P Gosavi, who is wanted in fraud cases, in the cruise liner drug bust case.

Senior Inspector of Oshiwara police station Sanjay Bendale said, "I am not aware of anything…"