ED registers money laundering case against ex-NCB Mumbai director Sameer Wankhede
Sameer Wankhede, who has been accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore from family members of the arrested accused in the 2021 Cordelia cruise ship drug bust case, is likely to be summoned by the ED soon.
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A source said that Wankhede has filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court against the ED. (File Photo)The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case of money laundering against former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who is accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore from family members of the arrested accused in the 2021 Cordelia cruise ship drug bust case, including actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan. Wankhede is likely to be summoned soon.
A senior police officer from the agency confirmed the development and said that an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered against the IRS officer on the basis of a first information report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in May 2023.
“Three other NCB officers have been summoned for questioning,” an officer said.
“The ED had registered the said ECIR in 2023. It is surprising that this ECIR is based on the CBI FIR which is already under question before the Bombay HC. Since the matter is subjudice, I do not intend to comment further. I will give the appropriate reply in the court at the appropriate time. I reiterate that I have full faith in the Indian judiciary. Satyamev Jayate,” Wankhede said.
A source said that Wankhede has filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court against the ED.
A 2008-batch IRS officer, Wankhede, who then headed the NCB Mumbai zone, had led a team of officers to raid the ship off the Mumbai coast on the night of October 2, 2021. The NCB had claimed to have seized 13 gm of cocaine, 5 gm of mephedrone, 21 gm of marijuana, 22 pills of MDMA and Rs 1.33 lakh cash in the raid, and arrested 17 people, including Aryan.
Aryan was released on bail by the Bombay High Court 26 days after the raid. Eventually, another NCB team that investigated the matter dropped his name from the chargesheet, citing insufficient evidence. Wankhede was later accused of a “shoddy investigation”.
The CBI spokesperson had said then, “We have registered an FIR against Sameer Wankhede, the then Zonal Director of NCB (Mumbai Zone Unit); Vishwa Vijay Singh, then Superintendent (NCB); Ashish Ranjan, then Intelligence Officer of Mumbai Zonal Unit (NCB); K P Gosavi and Sanvile D’Souza (alleged witness) and other unknown persons.”
“It has been alleged that the three officials of NCB Mumbai Zone, in order to obtain undue advantage from the persons/others in the case no 94/2021…, earlier registered and investigated under the supervision of Wankhede, had entered into criminal conspiracy with others and allegedly obtained undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused….”.
“It has also been alleged that the accused persons entered into conspiracy in order to extort an amount of around Rs 25 crore from the family members of the alleged accused… by threatening them of the accusation of offences of possession of narcotics substances as per the alleged directions of Wankhede being the supervisory officer. A token amount of Rs 50 lakh as bribe was allegedly obtained in furtherance of this conspiracy…,” the spokesperson said.
Wankhede and others were booked under Sections 7, 7A, and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The CBI had also conducted searches at 29 locations across Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Lucknow, Chennai and Guwahati, which led to recovery of incriminating material, sources said.
Although Wankhede has been questioned by the CBI before, the high court has granted him relief from coercive action in the case.
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