Witness claims NCB cop Sameer Wankhede made him sign blank paper to frame two Nigerians

Sameer Wankhede outside the NCB office. File pic

One more NCB witness came forward to say that his signature, too, was taken on a blank sheet of paper to frame two Nigerian nationals arrested by NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and his team in August. The witness, Shekhar Kamble, said he has seen the anonymous letter of an NCB officer that state minister Nawab Malik shared, and it mentions case number 80/2021 (about the two Nigerians). Fearing for his life, he decided to speak up and approach the Kopar Khairane police station as well.

Kamble said, "I had information about a Nigerian selling drugs in Kharghar and I informed Wankhede about it. His team conducted a raid, but the peddler escaped from the spot. We found around 4-5 gms of drugs. After that, we went to the Nigerian Kitchen [a room where they were staying] in Kharghar Sector 12. The NCB officers broke the door and found 40-50 Nigerians, but most of them managed to flee. Only two were caught but no drugs were found from them."

He added, "The duo was arrested in an 80 gm MD case, but the drug was never seized from them. I was not aware of this, but three days later I was called to the NCB office where I met Wankhede. He told me that I had done a bogus job and nothing was recovered from Nigerians. Later, he [Wankhede] told me to sign something in the office, where my signature was taken on blank sheets of paper. I don't know what happened after that but the Nigerians were framed in the case."

The anonymous letter received by Malik talks about this particular case as well. "I saw that letter and got scared, as the case number was mentioned in it. I spoke to several friends, who told me that I might land in trouble. I spoke to an NCB officer, who called me to the office and asked me not to worry, but I decided to speak up," Kamble added. Kamble has also approached the Kopar Khairane police station and narrated the same to the cops as well. He also told them that he feared for his life and would inform them if he felt any threat. "I have spoken the truth and have nothing more to say. I have informed the police as well," Kamble told mid-day.

When mid-day reached out to Wankhede about the witness's claim, he said they were false. He added, "I feel these are the people who want drugs and so they are sympathetic towards peddlers. They are ruining our efforts of fighting the drug racket. It has become a new trend to target the NCB and be in the spotlight."