Bollywood of late is marred by various drug scandals, the latest being the Mumbai drug bust case on Saturday which saw Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan being questioned by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sprung into action last year after the unfortunate and sudden demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. During that time Narcotics Control Bureau's Sameer Wankhede, a top Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer probed actress Rhea Chakraborty on a drugs conspiracy link.
Subsequently, many cases related to drugs in Bollywood came to light from time to time creating ripples within the industry and giving some food for thought to the social media users. Today we look at who is the man behind this clean-up spree who has shaken the roots of Bollywood by bringing out the film industry-drugs nexus, a problem that remained swept under the carpets for a bit too long.
Who is Sameer Wankhede?
Sameer Wankhede is a 2008 Batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who has a special Bollywood connection.
He is married to popular Marathi actress Kranti Redkar who has worked with actor Ajay Devgn in his 2003 film Gangajal.
Sameer Wankhede and Kranti Redkar tied the knot in March 2017 in a private wedding ceremony.
His sister-in-law is Film producer Hridaya Banerjee whose husband Argha Banerjee is a creative director and producer.
As an IRS Officer, Sameer Wankhede's first posting was at the Mumbai airport as the Customs Officer.
In the last two years, a probe led by Wankhede and his team managed to seize drugs worth Rs 17,000 crore.
Sameer Wankhede's career
Sameer Wankhede worked as Deputy Commissioner of Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) and Additional SP of National Investigation Agency (NIA).
From 2008-2020, Wankhede also worked as Joint Commissioner of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Zonal Director of NCB.
He is reportedly known for not giving custom clearance to many celebrities till they disclosed the goods bought in foreign currency and paid tax on it.
As IRS Officer, Sameer Wankhede has booked more than 2,000 celebrities for not paying the taxes.
During his high-profile career, Wankhede caught singer Mika Singh at the Mumbai airport with foreign currency in 2013.
The top cop has also raided properties owned by many Bollywood celebs, including Anurag Kashyap, Vivek Oberoi and Ram Gopal Varma.
In 2011, even the cricket World Cup trophy, which was made of gold, was released at the Mumbai airport only after paying custom duty.
Under him, NCB on Saturday evening raided a rave party where drugs were being used.
