Sameer Wankhede removed from Aryan Khan drugs case probe

New Delhi: A high-profile probe into an alleged drug bust involving actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan will no longer be headed by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai chief Sameer Wankhede after the controversial officer was divested of the case by the agency on Friday.

Wankhede, who is facing an internal vigilance probe on extortion charges and other allegations of forgery and misrepresentation, will continue to head the NCB's Mumbai zonal office, and supervise other probes in the region.

A SIT, or special investigation team, to be led by senior police officer Sanjay Singh, will take over the Aryan Khan case as well as six others that were being handled by Mr Wankhede, including one involving Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik's son-in-law.

Shortly after news broke that the cases were being shifted, Mr Wankhede told NDTV "I've not been removed from investigation. It was my writ petition in the Bombay High Court that the matter be probed by a central agency like the CBI or NIA. Based on that, a SIT has now been formed under the leadership of a senior officer..."

Sameer Wankhede has been at the centre of a major controversy after accusations from Nawab Malik and, more importantly, from Prabhakar Sail, a NCB witness in the Aryan Khan case, brought his record and his handling of cases into question.

Last week, amid a flurry of criticism and scrutiny, the anti-drugs agency publicly backed the senior officer, citing an "impeccable service record... replete with honesty and integrity".

Simultaneously, however, the agency also initiated an internal probe; a five-member team headed by Deputy Director-General Gyaneshwar Singh did visit Mumbai last week, and took down Mr Wankhede's statement, but left without speaking to Prabhakar Sail.

The agency's backing came after Mr Sail, who described himself as a "bodyguard", filed an affidavit saying he overheard a conversation between his employer KP Gosavi (another agency witness, whose selfie with Aryan after his arrest have raised more questions about the NCB's case), Shah Rukh Khan's manager Pooja Dadlani, and a Sam D'Souza this month.

Mr Sail said they discussed a ₹ 18 crore deal, of which ₹ 8 crore was for Mr Wankhede.

The NCB hit back with an affidavit of its own that said allegations were being concocted to "malign the agency's image", and Mr Wankhede denied all extortion and payoff charges.

Mr Wankhede filed an affidavit too, in which he claimed he was being "personally targeted" - a reference to relentless attacks by Mr Malik, who has, among other things, accused the NCB forging a caste certificate and other documents to secure a government job.