Sameer Wankhede framed Aryan Khan, claims anonymous 'NCB cop' in letter

Sameer Wankhede outside the NCB office in Ballard Estate. File pic/Shadab Khan; (right) Aryan Khan. File pic

State Cabinet minister Nawab Malik on Monday dropped another bombshell on Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede and a few other officers. Malik said he has received an anonymous letter from an unknown person claiming to be an NCB officer, who alleged that NCB officers have been framing people by planting narcotics on the instruction of Wankhede.

The minister shared the four-page letter on Twitter. The person who wrote the letter claims he has been posted at NCB's Mumbai office for the past two years. According to the letter, written in Hindi, actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan has also been framed and drugs were planted in the cruise liner case. It has details of 26 more alleged false cases, including the one involving Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan. Wankhede told mid-day that he could not comment on a comedy novel.

‘Celebs extorted'

The letter further alleged that during the investigation linked to Sushant Singh Rajput's death, Wankhede was brought to the NCB from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on loan basis with the help of Union home minister Amit Shah. During the probe, various celebrities questioned by Wankhede paid huge extortion money, which went to his seniors. The extortion money was collected by a senior lawyer close to Wankhede, and after every arrest, the accused would be asked to approach the lawyer (mid-day is not naming the lawyer), the letter stated.

"To frame people he has his own team of officers...who plant drugs during the searches at people's houses. If they find drugs, and the quantity is less, they add more to make it a commercial quantity, which makes getting bail difficult," the letter read. The letter has named other NCB officers and those who have been allegedly supporting Wankhede in his alleged wrongdoings. He writes, "They make false panchanama in the NCB office and the same is used wherever they want."

‘Wankhede buys drugs'

"Wankhede has been purchasing drugs from his aides and their surnames are Dashrath, Jameel, Afzal, Mohammed, Shaikh, Adil Usmani and Nasir. These drugs are used to make false cases. Wankhede has been paying them from the Secret Service Fund or the amount he seizes during raids," the letter added.

In Sushant's case, the letter claims, "Karan Arora, Zaid Vilatra and Abbas Lakhani were arrested initially with very small quantity [of drugs] and at that the same time Wankhede joined the NCB, and officer Dinesh Chavhan was handling operations and a superintendent-rank officer was handling administration." "Wankhede asked Chavhan to add the names of actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty and Samuel Miranda in their [the trio] statement. Chavhan refused to do so, after which Wankhede removed him from operations and gave the charge to the superintendent-rank officer, who is working as Wankhede's puppet and both are misusing Section 27A of the NDPS Act to frame people. One of the accused in Sushant's case, Mohammed Jumman had filed a complaint that the superintendent-rank officer had taken around Rs 20-25 lakh, but Wankhede closed the complaint saying that allegations are false." Chavhan did not respond to mid-day's calls and messages.

‘Arman Kohli also framed'

The letter adds that Sameer Khan was also framed in a false case of possession of 200 kg ganja, which in reality was tobacco, and two NCB officers planted 1 gram cocaine on actor Arman Kohli. It said senior officers are not acting against Wankhede because he pays them a huge amount monthly.

The letter was also marked to CM Uddhav Thackeray, home minister Dilip Walse Patil, Maharashtra DGP Sanjay Pandey, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. It has demanded an enquiry commission against Wankhede. The unknown officer said he is not revealing his name because there is a threat to his life. NCB officers said no action will be taken against Wankhede on the letter. It added that the agency has not received any such letter, so there is no way of taking cognisance of its contents.