Drugs-on-cruise case: SIT to fix responsibility of NCB officials
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 May, 2022 11:23 AM
New Delhi, May 27 (IANS) The SIT formed in the drugs-on-cruise case might be filing a report with the Ministry of Home Affairs to fix responsibility for conducting shoddy probe in the matter, sources in the Narcotics Control Bureau have suggested.
The report will fix the responsibility of the officials who were involved in the investigation due to which Aryan Khan and others were given clean chit in the case. The MHA is keeping a close eye on the matter.
Earlier, NCB official Ashish Ranjan Prasad was placed under suspension. Later his suspension was revoked and he was transferred to CISF. Another NCB official who faced the music was Intelligence Official V.V. Singh who filled the arrest memo of Aryan Khan, son of mega star Shahrukh Khan. Singh was placed under suspension which has not been revoked as of now.
Sameer Wankhede, who was heading the Mumbai Zone of the NCB, was sent to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). Vishwanath Tripathi, who was the part of the NCB team which conducted the raid was also suspended.
Sources have said that the officials who directly or indirectly implicated any innocent in the matter will not be spared. If any person who was travelling on Cordelia Cruise was falsely booked, the official can face the music. The team which conducted raid at Cordelia Cruise committed huge blunders -- chats leaked to media before the court hearing was one of them.
Action can be suggested against a few officials for not conducting the blood test of Aryan Khan before placing him under arrest. The SIT has also learnt that some witnesses were not trustworthy but they assisted the NCB team in the raid. They only harmed the NCB reputation and its investigation.
"The NDPS sections which were added into the case to prevent Aryan Khan from getting bail will also be looked into. There were allegations of harassments levelled by Ananya Pandey and others. When allegations of extortion were levelled it was taken very seriously by the SIT. A report will be prepared to finalize the responsibility of the officials," the source said.
This report is likely to be shared with the MHA next month.
India on Friday revised the existing guidelines for all international arrivals in India in view of the rising Covid cases and the Omicron threat, to make seven days home quarantine mandatory. The new guidelines will be effective from January 11 till further notice.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister's rally in Ferozepur had to be cancelled due to a security lapse after some protesters blocked a route and forced his convoy to spend about 20 minutes on a flyover. The Prime Minister was enroute the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala when the incident happened.
On Thursday, senior BJP leaders including chief ministers of the party ruled states offered prayers at temples across the country for the well-being and long life of Prime Minister Modi after his security was breached in Punjab on January 5.
Most of these farmers had earlier stated that they were present at the spot but were not involved in the attack. They were, at that time, charged under bailable sections such as 'rioting' and 'voluntarily causing hurt' and were let off by the SIT officials under Section 41 of the CrPC.
The Congress is witnessing internal bickering on the issue of security breach of the Prime Minister and Congress MP from Punjab Manish Tewari has termed the incidence as most unfortunate and said the matter should be probed by a sitting High Court Judge.
Addressing a gathering in Tanda in Hoshiarpur district after laying the foundation stone of development work, the Chief Minister said there was no threat to the life of the Prime Minister but he cancelled his programme on Wednesday because of the thin presence of people at the BJP's rally.
