Fresh allegations of the alleged involvement of Indian Revenue Service officer, Sameer Wankhede, once the poster boy of the Narcotics Control Bureau, have surfaced following the registration of an FIR against him and some others, in what is popularly referred as the Aryan Khan case. The charges against him, if proved, could lead to his dismissal from service. He is accused of extortion and is said to have along with his associates, demanded a whopping 25 crore for allowing Aryan Khan, son of cine superstar Shah Rukh Khan to walk free. In fact, the allegations are that he along with an independent witness, and his colleagues, falsely implicated Aryan Khan and his friends, with the clear intention of obtaining a huge sum from his family. To start with Rs 50 lakhs exchanged hands, and though efforts were made to make Sameer see reason, he continued with his arm-twisting tactics, leading to the judicial custody of Aryan Khan for more than three weeks.
All this was happening when retired and senior functionaries of the NCB, including its first boss, B.V. Kumar, pointed repeatedly to serious procedural lapses during the probe. It was evident from the very beginning that the entire investigation was flawed and even routine processes were not followed. It was also inexplainable how an independent witness could escort Aryan Khan into the NCB office and later pose with him while taking Selfies. As things unfolded, the Selfie proved to be his undoing and the CBI which is conducting the probe now, could take some drastic action against Sameer Wankhede and his colleagues. The IRS officer was transferred after he was accused of wrong doing by multiple people, an NCB politician amongst them. He managed to maintain a brave face but received a serious setback when Aryan Khan was granted bail as also two of his friends, who were also rounded up during this failed extortion operation. The NCB officers in the national capital got into the act and Sameer was removed from his position and subsequently transferred to Chennai. There were also allegations against him that he had falsified his personal details during his selection in the civil services. He was accused of wearing frightfully expensive clothes; his shirt, trousers, shoes and watch etc were said to be much above his known sources of income.
What needs to be also investigated by the CBI is that who were the senior officers within the NCB, who were patronising Sameer and protecting him. Also, all cases probed by him in his capacity as the Mumbai head, should be reinvestigated to ensure fair play for the accused. It is a tribute to our judicial system that Aryan Khan, largely because his father, who could afford the best legal brains, was able to walk free after being granted bail by the High Court. One shudders to think what others who have been falsely implicated in similar cases would be, and are spending time in jail for no fault of theirs. The supreme irony was that when the NCB filed the charge sheet in the Cruise ship case in which Aryan Khan was arrested, his name was not there. It implies that there was no evidence against him. This itself proves that he was implicated for reasons, which are now becoming clear. Sameer Wankhede may have been an outstanding officer in his initial years, but his innings after he turned rogue should be fully gone into. If he is indeed guilty, he should be awarded exemplary punishment along with those who colluded with him in his crime or provided him protection.