In an exclusive chat with the Free Press Journal, Narcotic Control Bureau's (NCB) Zonal Head Sameer Wankhede has clarified that no raids are being conducted in Mumbai's Bandra as being reported by news agency ANI.
ANI reported that Mumbai NCB was conducting raids at three places in Bandra.
Denying the reports, Wankhede clarified, "Fake news. I request to not spread such news. No raids have been conducted by NCB", while speaking to FPJ.
While NCP Minister Nawab Malik accused Sameer Wankhede of extortion. Malik has been firing salvos against the NCB and Wankhede after the Cordelia Cruises drug bust case, for registering fake cases in a bid to hog the limelight. He had also targeted Wankhede’s family.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire film industry was in the Maldives. What were Sameer Wankhede and his family doing in the Maldives and Dubai?” Malik asked. He alleged that “attempts were made to implicate certain people in false cases and that ‘vasuli’ (extortion) took place in Maldives and Dubai.” Malik released purported photos of Wankhede and his family.
However, Wankhede denied Malik’s allegations. “It is an absolute lie. I went to the Maldives with my children for a vacation. I took proper permission from the competent authority for the same. I didn’t meet anyone and I don’t want to give any further clarification on these kinds of accusations. In December, I was in Mumbai, at the time when he said I was in Dubai. This can be investigated,” he added.
Meanwhile, The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials on Saturday summoned actor Ananya Panday for questioning in connection with the WhatsApp chats with Aryan Khan and some suspicious financial transactions. Panday had been questioned on Thursday and Friday.
She has been asked to come back for questioning in the ongoing cruise drugs case on Monday, October 25. "She has been called again on Monday morning for questioning," NCB Deputy Director General Ashok Mutha Jain told the media.
The NCB is probing the cruise ship drugs case, in which Aryan Khan (23) has been arrested along with 19 others. Aryan Khan is in jail under judicial custody and his bail plea will be heard by the Bombay High Court on October 26. During the investigation, the NCB is believed to have found some WhatsApp chats between Khan and Panday. The NCB had seized Ananya Panday's laptop and mobile phone on Thursday.
