The cruise drugs case allegedly involving Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, has been transferred from the Mumbai zone of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to a special team of its Delhi headquarters for further probe.
“A Special Investigation Team [SIT) comprising officers from the Operations Branch of NCB headquarters has been constituted by the NCB Director-General to take over six cases from the NCB Mumbai zonal unit, which have national and international ramifications...,” said Sanjay Kumar Singh, the Deputy Director-General of NCB headquarters on Friday.
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In a statement, Mr. Singh said the decision was taken in order to conduct deeper investigation to find out forward and backward linkages in these cases. “No officer or officers have been removed from their present roles and they will continue to assist the Operations Branch investigation as required until any specific orders are issued to the contrary. It is reiterated that the NCB functions across India as a single integrated agency,” he said.
The move came weeks after various charges were levelled against the NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede , who was supervising the investigation in the cruise drugs case, by Maharashtra government Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik and others.
Mr. Wankhede refuted all the allegations. On October 26, he briefed his superiors at the agency's Delhi headquarters on the developments in the case.
During his second visit, Mr. Wankhede lodged a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chairperson, Vijay Sampla. The NCSC is examining the complaint. Alleging that he was “tortured”, the NCB officer had raised suspicion that a conspiracy was being hatched to implicate him in a false case.
Meanwhile, the NCB's vigilance department is looking into the graft charges made by an independent witness in the case.
The agency has so far arrested 20 accused persons in connection with the case. Among them is Aryan Khan, who was granted bail by the Bombay High Court 25 days after his arrest.
