Sameer Wankhede alleges harassment by NCB officer, moves scheduled castes panel

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes NCSC has said it will probe a complaint received by Indian Revenue Service IRS officer Sameer Wankhede alleging harassment by Narcotics Control Bureau NCB Deputy Director General DDG Gyaneshwar Singh who headed a vigilance probe that found irregularities in the 2021 drugsoncruise caseThe commission in a statement on Tuesday said it will probe the alleged harassment and atrocities committed by Singh and directed that no further action be taken in the matter till the complaint is pending before the panel which enjoys powers of a civil courtThe NCB had instituted the vigilance probe after several lapses were found in the inquiry into the alleged drug seizure from a cruise ship in Mumbai last October Aryan Khan son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was arrested after a raid on the ship but he was later given a clean chit in the case Wankhede was the NCB Mumbai zonal director when the raid was conducted on the Goabound shipA complaint or information has been received by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes NCSC from Wankhede and the commission has decided to investigate or inquire into the matter in pursuance of the powers conferred to it under the Constitution said the statementAlso read Family belongs to Scheduled Caste havent embraced any other religion WankhedeWankhede who in May was transferred to the DG Taxpayer Service Directorate in Chennai also met the NCSC chairman and discussed his case in detail it saidThere appears to be discrimination and harassment of the petitioner who belongs to a Scheduled Caste Therefore the NCSC has desired that no further action in the matter be taken till the pendency of the case in the commission said the statementThe commission has asked the Central Board of Indirect Texas and Customs CBIC to hand over original documents submitted by the NCBs Special Enquiry Team SET for examination by the panelThe Indian Revenue Service IRS is governed by the CBICThe NCSC which enjoys powers of a civil court has asked the CBIC a body functioning under the Union finance ministrys Department of Revenue to submit information sought by it in 15 daysWhen contacted by PTI Wankhede said I have approached the commission but do not want to comment further as the matter is subjudice Singh humiliated and mocked Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar I have faced continuous harassment and exploitation for a yearThe NCB inquiry into the probe of the drugsoncruise case has flagged several irregularities but found no evidence of extortion an official said on TuesdayA special investigation team of the NCB which looked into the probe of the case submitted its vigilance report a few weeks ago It flagged suspicious behaviour of seven to eight officers of the NCBQuestions were also raised about the intention of the officers involved in the investigation of the drugsoncruise case and some people were found to have changed their statements many times the official had saidThere was selective treatment and procedural lapses during the probe he had saidThe report has recommended action against erring officers including those who were deputed to the NCB at the time he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever