Sameer Wankhede

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Sameer Wankhede is the zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and he is popularly known for being on the front foot of all the operations of the NCB and conducting raids to seize drugs and other contraband in Mumbai and surrounding areas.Sameer Wankhede completed his education and started preparing for the UPSC examination. After clearing the examination, Sameer passed out in 2008, and he was appointed as an Indian Revenue Service officer. Old picture of Sameer Wankhede.In the initial years, Sameer served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) at the Mumbai Airport. While serving in the customs department at the Mumbai airport, Sameer made sure that everyone paid the tax on each item bought by them from another country. He was known for not giving clearance to any celebrity until they disclosed the tax on the goods.In 2010, Wankhede was working in the Maharashtra Service Tax Department when he booked 2,500 people, including 200 celebrities, under the charges of tax evasion. He was also responsible for adding revenue of Rs. 87 crore in the exchequer.In 2011, Sameer seized the 2011 Cricket World Cup trophy as it was made of gold, and the association was required to pay the customs duty.In 2013, Wankhede stopped the Punjabi pop singer Mika Singh with foreign currency. He was returning from Bangkok when he was caught with $11,000 and Rs. 2.75 lakh cash. He also had liquor bottles valued at $1,000. According to custom norms, Indian passengers coming from abroad with more than $5,000 are asked to declare the amount. Mika Singh was detained for four hours before he was released on a bail of Rs. 1 lakh.After serving at the Air Intelligence Unit, Sameer became the additional SP of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and then he was appointed as the Joint Commissioner of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).After serving at the DRI, Sameer became the zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, and since 2019, his team has managed to seize drugs worth Rs. 17,000 crore. He has conducted raids at the properties owned by many Bollywood celebrities like Anurag Kashyap, Vivek Oberoi, and Ram Gopal Varma.After the suicide of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the alleged drug angle in the case, Sameer Wankhede and his team investigated the whole case. They conducted several raids at the safe houses of drug peddlers, and they revealed the names of many Bollywood celebrities. Sameer personally interrogated Rhea Chakraborty and other celebrities as a part of the Bollywood drugs nexus. Rhea Chakraborty going to the NCB office after her arrest.In November 2020, comedian Bharti Singh and her husband were arrested by the NCB for the possession and consumption of cannabis. She was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. On searching their house and official premises, the team found 86 grams of cannabis, and the couple admitted to consumption of the drug. Bharti Singh coming out of the NCB office.