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 Later his suspension was revoked and he was transferred to CISF.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 Singh was placed under suspension which has not been revoked as of now.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.
According to sources, Modi was briefed about the evacuation status and was informed that over 1,750 Indian students have returned to the country so far.
Also, guided by India's motto of the world being one family, the Prime Minister said that India will help people from neighbouring countries and developing nations who are stranded in Ukraine, seeking assistance.
There are currently 14 major medical colleges in Ukraine in which more than 18,000 Indian students are pursuing MBBS and BDS courses. Out of these, about 1,000 have returned home while efforts are on to bring back the rest.
Modi thanked Heger for the assistance provided by Slovakia in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine, and for permitting special evacuation flights from India. He asked for Slovakia's continued assistance in the next few days with India undertaking a mission to evacuate other citizens from conflict zones.
Sidhu has urged the apex court not to punish him with a jail term in a 1988 road rage case in which he was let off with a meagre fine of Rs 1,000. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gurnam Singh's family, submitted that he has moved an application seeking enlargement of the scope of the notice issued.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
