New Delhi: A top Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede was the one who probed actress Rhea Chakraborty’s drugs conspiracy link in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. On September 6, a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team led by Sameer Wankhede reached Rhea’s house in Mumbai to summon her for interrogation. Since then, all eyes are on the NCB team regarding the course of the investigation.
Sameer Wankhede has also been trending for his role in the case and also for his special Bollywood connection. He is the husband of actress Kranti Redkar.
Kranti is a well-known Marathi actress and has also worked with superstar Ajay Devgn in his 2003 film ‘Gangaajal’.
Sameer Wankhede and Kranti Redkar married in March 2017 in a private wedding ceremony.
Apart from being an actress, Kranti is also a filmmaker. 2014’s Marathi film ‘Kaakan’ marked her debut as a film director.
Meanwhile, Sameer 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 Sameer and his team managed to seize drugs worth Rs 17,000 crore.
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 two thousand celebrities for not paying the taxes.
Interestingly, in 2013, Sameer caught singer Mika Singh at the Mumbai airport with foreign currency. The top-notch officer has also raided the properties owned by many Bollywood celebs, including Anurag Kashyap, Vivek Oberoi, Ram Gopal Varma.
Even the cricket World Cup trophy which was made of gold was released at the Mumbai airport only after paying custom duty. Sameer Wankhede has also worked in the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
However, Rhea Chakraborty on Wednesday moved a bail plea before a special court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after she was arrested by the NCB on Tuesday (September 8) in connection with a drugs case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Rhea decided to approach the special court after the rejection of her bail plea by a magistrate court on Tuesday. In the fresh petition, filed by Rhea’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde, the actress has claimed that she has not committed any crime.
“She has not committed any crime whatsoever and has been falsely implicated in the case,” said the plea. Further, it is claimed that Rhea “was coerced into making self-incriminatory confessions and by her application on September 8 the applicant has formally retracted all such incriminatory confessions”.
“There was not a single lady officer who interrogated the present applicant as mandated by law. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Sheela Barse VS State Maharashtra, has held that the interrogation of females should be carried out only in the presence of a female police officer/constable,” reads the bail application, highlighting that the NCB did not follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court.
Rhea’s lawyer has also raised the issue of applicability of charges of Section 27 A of NDPS Act against Rhea, saying, “The allegations against the present accused would at the most make out a case of purchasing a small quantity of drug which is in essence a bailable offence. There is not a shred of evidence to connect the applicant with financing any illicit traffic or harbouring any offender and hence the ingredients of Section 27 A of the NDPS Act are not made out in present facts and circumstances.”
“The respondent (NCB) is silent as to the amount of financing, quantum of drugs and the type of drugs allegedly procured and financed by the present applicant. The case of the respondent in the layman term is that the applicant would co-ordinate the delivery of the drug for her then boyfriend and occasionally pay for them herself. In essence, her alleged role, if any, is purchase of a small quantity of drugs for her then boyfriend which would squarely fall within the ambit of Section 20 (b) (ii) (A) (produces, manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases, transports, imports inter-State, exports inter-State or uses cannabis,) which is punishable with a maximum imprisonment of upto a year or with fine or both,” reads the bail plea filed by Rhea’s lawyer.
The special court will hear Rhea’s bail application on Thursday.
Rhea was arrested by the NCB after three days of questioning. Shortly after her arrest, Rhea sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court. The actress was shifted to Mumbai’s Byculla jail on Wednesday after spending a night at NCB’s office.
