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Journalism of Courage
THE NARCOTICS Control Bureau (NCB) terminated the services of its superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh who was a member of the team that raided the Cordelia cruise and arrested Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.
According to NCB officials, Singh was terminated following in another case in which he was placed under suspension in April 2022 and an inquiry was ordered. After taking into consideration the inquiry report findings, Singh was dismissed, officials said.
Sameer Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who was transferred from the NCB, led a team of officers, including Singh, to raid Cordelia ship off the Mumbai coast on the night of October 2, 2021.
In the raid, the NCB claimed to have seized 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of mephedrone, 21 grams of marijuana, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy) and Rs 1.33 lakh in cash, following which they arrested 17 persons, including Aryan Khan.
Khan was eventually released on bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28.
Singh also led a team of officers to Shah Rukh Khan’s residence — Mannat — in connection with the probe. Eventually, another NCB team that investigated the matter did not chargesheet Aryan Khan in the case, citing insufficient evidence.
Later, facing allegations of irregularities in the raid on the ship, including using panchas (witnesses) with prior crime record, a vigilance inquiry was ordered against the NCB’s Mumbai team that was completed in November 2022. Based on the inquiry, departmental action was ordered against seven officers, whose identities were not revealed.
In addition to the Aryan Khan case, Singh was also the superintendent of NCB Mumbai during other important cases, including the one involving actor Rhea Chakraborty.
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