Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse-Patil on Tuesday said no instructions were given to the Mumbai police to follow senior officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), including Mumbai zonal director of the agency, Sameer Wankhede. “I have no such information and no such orders have been issued,” said the minister. Wankhede is supervising the probe into the recent cruise drugs bust case.
Walse-Patil said, “I am not aware of charges made by Wankhede. I will talk about it after seeking additional information.”
Walse-Patil’s clarification came after Wankhede met the state Director General of Police Sanjay Pandey along with senior NCB officials on Monday and complained that some people have been following him for the past few days. He has also filed a police complaint in Mumbai and given CCTV footage in support of his claim, alleging two policemen were monitoring his movements.
The NCB official said he regularly visits his mother’s grave at a cemetery in Oshiwara. He alleged that two officials, reportedly from Oshiwara police station, went to the cemetery and took CCTV footage to monitor his movement.
Meanwhile, leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis alleged that Wankhede has been under watch by the Maharashtra police by misusing its power. He said the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi partners will have to give answers. “The entire country is against drug mafias. However, the ruling partners are targeting officers engaged in action against drug business. Is money collection on from the drug mafias? The three ruling partners are answerable on this issue,” he added.
