Stalled World Cup Trophy at Airport, Married to Actor: Meet NCB's Sameer Wankhede Who Has Rocked B-Town

Almost all of Bollywood now has a new, common nightmare. No, it’s not low attendance or a bad Friday release. He’s Narcotics Control Bureau’s Sameer Wankhede.

A top Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Wankhede was the one who probed actress Rhea Chakraborty’s drugs conspiracy link in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. And now, he is in the news once again for raid on a cruise ship in Mumbai where the Bollywood nexus is once again in the dock.

ALSO READ | ‘Good I Didn’t Get Boarding Pass’: Tourist Who Missed Cruise Raided by Narcotics Team Shares Details of Trip

Coincidentally, Wankhede also has a special Bollywood connection, beyond his call of duty. He is married to popular Marathi actress Kranti Redkar who has worked with actor Ajay Devgn in his 2003 film Gangajal. Wankhede and Kranti tied the knot in March 2017 in a private wedding ceremony.

Wankhede is a 2008 Batch IRS officer. His first posting was at the Mumbai airport as the Customs Officer. In the last two years, a probe led by him and his team managed to seize drugs worth Rs 17,000 crore.

His posting and designations from 2008 to 2020 include Deputy Commissioner of Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), Additional SP of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Joint Commissioner of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Zonal Director of NCB.

While serving in the Customs department, he reportedly did not give custom clearance to many celebrities until they disclosed the goods bought in foreign currency and paid tax on it. He has booked more than 2,000 celebrities for not paying the taxes.

In 2013, Wankhede caught singer Mika Singh at the Mumbai airport with foreign currency. 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.

ALSO READ | Bollywood Megastar’s Son Detained With Drugs On Cruise Ship From Mumbai To Goa; Cocaine, Hashish And MD Seized

This time, under his leadership, NCB on Saturday evening raided a passenger cruise ship anchored in Mumbai and busted a party onboard where drugs were being used. There were hundreds of passengers on the ship which was bound for Goa.

Banned narcotic drugs were recovered from some of the passengers, including big Bollywood names.

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