Clean chit for Aryan Khan, Damoclean sword over Wankhede

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in a concerted and precisely timed move, brought closure to the infamous Aryan Khan drugs case that controversial Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede had registered against Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son on October 03, 2021.

The Union government has now ordered strict action against Wankhede, whose nefarious activity brought disrepute to not just the NCB but also tarnished the image of the government that was being accused of targeting Bollywood. An expose on alleged extortion of Rs18 crore by the witnesses enrolled by the NCB in the case had shamed the agency.

The upper echelons of NCB became aware of the goingson in the case after being tipped off by the apex intelligence agency in November last year, when the National Investigative Agency (NIA) was able to pinpoint Wankhede’s close association with forces inimical to India. However, it was decided to calibrate the severance of Wankhede’s relationship with the NCB so as not to bring the agency into disrepute.

Consider this: In November 2021, Wankhede insisted that he had asked to be removed from the investigations into two NCB cases he had registered, including the Aryan Khan case. The following day, the NCB issued a press release that indicated that Wankhede had been relieved of investigative duties in a total of six cases.

Today, Aryan Khan and five other accused in the case were given a clean chit by the NCB, even as the Union government ordered strict action against him for the shoddy investigation into the case. And yet, this was a foregone conclusion after Wankhede was summoned to New Delhi in October 2021 by India’s top intelligence officer.

“At the said meeting Wankhede--after being pulled up for his shoddy investigation said--‘Sir, mein mod de deta hoon (I shall give a turn in the investigations)’. To this, to which the intelligence chief responded with, ‘Tum to D…… ke bhai ho!’” a well-placed source told First India.

Strict action against Wankhede is only expected to serve as an example for other central intelligence agency operatives for all future reference.