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- Published: October 3, 2021 13:30
New Delhi: From the days of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, a lot of controversies regarding drug consumption have been doing around in Bollywood. Sudden raids by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have acted as a nightmare for most Bollywood stars and celebrities. However, who snatched the limelight was none other than Sameer Wankhede.
Wankhede, a top Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer was in the news the previous year when he probed actress Rhea Chakraborty’s drug case link in regards to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. This time, he also grabbed the eyeballs of the public by raiding a cruise ship in Mumbai where megastar Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan along with others has been caught.
Apart from his duty, Wankhede has a special Bollywood connection. In March 2017, he tied his knot with Marathi actress Kranti Redkar, in a private wedding ceremony. Kranti featured in the 2003 film, Gangajal alongside Ajay Devgn.
Wankhede belonged to the 2008 batch of the Indian Revenue Service. His first designation was as Customs Officer posted at Mumbai airport. Drugs worth as much as Rs 17,000 crore were seized by him and his team in the last two years.
From 2008 to 2020, his journey includes Deputy Commissioner of Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), Additional SP of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Joint Commissioner of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), and Zonal Director of NCB.
During his time as a customs officer, he denied custom clearance to many celebrities until they disclosed the good brought on foreign currency and paid tax on it. He charged at least 2,000 celebrities for not paying taxes.
The popular singer Mika Singh was caught at Mumbai airport in 2013 possessing foreign currency. He has also raided the property of Bollywood celebs like Anurag Kashyap, Vivek Oberoi, and Ram Gopal Varma.
Besides, in 2011, the cricket World Cup trophy, made of gold was released from the Mumbai airport, only after clearing the custom duty.
On Saturday, the NCB team, under his leadership, busted a party on the passenger cruise where drugs were being used. Along with Aryan Khan, 10 other passengers have been detained. The ship contained around 100 passengers, heading to Goa.
Narcotics drugs such as cocaine, hashish, and MD were confiscated from some of the passengers.
