The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has dismissed superintendent of police (SP) Vishwa Vijay Singh, who was part of the team that conducted the 2021 drugs-on-cruise raid in Mumbai involving Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and others, reports said on Monday.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the officer has been removed from the agency in an unrelated case, and not as part of the probe involving Aryan Khan.
An anonymous officer told the publication that Singh was already suspended since April last year while an investigation was being conducted by the NCB regarding his conduct. The inquiry was recently concluded in an unrelated case related to misconduct, after which a decision was made to dismiss him from the service, it said.
While NCB director general Satya Narayan Pradhan has confirmed the report, Singh declined to comment. “The matter is pending with the ministry of home affairs (MHA),” he was quoted as saying.
Following allegations against NCB’s Mumbai team, including former zonal director Sameer Wankhede, a separate vigilance inquiry was conducted into the Cordelia raids, which concluded in November 2021. As a result, departmental action was initiated against seven officers. However, the findings of the inquiry have not been disclosed to the public.
In October 2, 2021, Aryan Khan and several others were arrested by the NCB on charges of drug possession, consumption, and trafficking that stemmed from raids held in Cordelia cruiship at Mumbai’s International Cruise Terminal. However, in the chargesheet filed by the agency in May 2022, Aryan Khan and five others were not named due to insufficient evidence.
Former zonal director Sameer Wankhede Wankhede, who was later transferred from NCB, led the team that included Singh and some witnesses to raid the ship off the Mumbai coast. Based on WhatsApp chats, Wankhede’s team claimed that the accused were part of a larger drug conspiracy, alleging that Aryan Khan was in contact with foreign drug suppliers and the chats referred to “hard drugs” and “bulk quantities”.
Khan was granted bail on October 28, 2021, by the Bombay High Court after it rejected NCB’s claims of larger drug conspiracy on grounds of insufficient evidence.
Following allegations against NCB’s Mumbai team, a separate vigilance inquiry was conducted into the raids, which concluded in November 2021. As a result, departmental action was initiated against seven officers. However, the findings of the inquiry have not been disclosed to the public, the HT report said.
Aftermath
According to reports, the NCB formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by deputy director general Sanjay Kumar Singh to reinvestigate the raids. The SIT found several irregularities in the raid and did not find evidence to suggest that Aryan Khan was involved in a larger drugs conspiracy or an international drugs trafficking syndicate.
Wankhede was transferred to the office of the director general of taxpayers’ services in Chennai.
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