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Sameer Wankhede On Allegations That 'NCB Is Targetting Bollywood'
Sameer Wankhede, the Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently opened up about the agency's investigation in the drugs case and Bollywood celebrities.
Sameer Wankhede, the Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently opened up about the agency's investigation in the drugs case and Bollywood celebrities. Many Bollywood celebrities have been arrested and questioned in drugs cases in the past year, after Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The recent name being Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan.
Talking about the drugs chain in India, Wankhede revealed to TOI that they have made more than 310 arrests in 2021 and they are not just celebrities. He also said that only the celebrity arrests make headlines while illegal substances worth Rs 150 crores were seized this year.
Reacting to the comments that NCB is targeting Bollywood, Wankhede said, "When we arrest someone, the media will play it up only when the arrested person is a known face. But instead of appreciating our efforts, we get blamed for targeting that popular celeb. Nobody is interested in reporting the 'unglamorous' cases or even discussing the regular cases."
Adding that only a handful of cases are celebrities he shared some statistics with the portal. Wankhede said that in 2021 (10 months) they booked 105 cases with an average of 10-12 cases every month. "Today, the media is playing up Aryan Khan's story. Just two days ago we seized Rs 5 crores worth of drugs and no media house in the country wrote about it. Last week, we seized drugs worth Rs 6 crores connected to the underworld. Nobody chose to comment on these cases."
He further said that the agency is doing its job and enforcing rules that are the same for everyone. He revealed that after Sushant Singh Rajput's 90 arrests have been made. "Had the Mumbai Zonal Unit of the NCB cracked five cases and out of those five, four had been celebrities, then I would have accepted the argument that we're only targeting glamour and trying to hog the limelight."
He concluded by saying that the allegations that NCB is targeting Bollywood are not fair or relevant. "How are these allegations fair? How are these allegations relevant? (Smiles) They're not."
