Rocked by allegations, NCB loses steam on Cordelia drug bust probe

A senior NCB official confirmed that the various allegations made against Wankhede and the agency have “for the time being derailed the probe momentum”. The official said, “Since the past two weeks there have been distractions due to the allegations I have to admit. Currently it is Diwali, so this week no major action will be taken by the agency.”

In the past two weeks, of the 20 arrested persons, 14 including Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, were granted bail. The bail applications of two others are likely to come up next week.

When asked if Panday would be issued summons again after she skipped the last one citing ill health, the officials said they would move forward “in the proper legal manner”.

Since last Monday, Wankhede has been to Delhi twice, and a team from the NCB vigilance team came to Mumbai for a vigilance probe against Wankhede following allegations of extortion against him. While the reasons for his first visit last week remain unclear, the second one on Monday was to submit his caste certificate to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), where he has made a complaint against the allegation by NCP leader Nawab Malik that despite being a Muslim, he had availed of the Scheduled Caste quota in the UPSC exam.

In the past two weeks Malik has raised other questions – over the panchas used by Wankhede in the raid on Cordelia cruise ship, and over others cases being investigated by the NCB since Wankhede took charge last year.

An official said, “There has been such an intense scrutiny on every action of the NCB that it has been difficult to conduct raids. Also, due to all the negativity related to allegations, there have been several distractions. However, hopefully from the coming Monday we should be back to work in full steam.”