Sameer Wankhede Age, Caste, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sameer Wankhede

• 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

• On 22 November 2020, Wankhede, along with five other members of his team, was attacked by a mob of 60 alleged drug peddlers. Two of his colleagues were seriously injured, whereas he escaped from the brawl with minor injuries.

@narcoticsbureau team attacked.

Attacked by the Drug Peddlers

2 NCB officers injured…

NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede attacked..

Attackers arrested..

We want to see the End… We will not stop.. We the People of India is with u team NCB#SSRCulpritsRoamingFree pic.twitter.com/FXYC3o5Zhz

— 💫🦋💥Debleena (SSRF)💓 (@itsdeleena) November 23, 2020

• In June 2021, Sameer Wankhede and his team arrested Haris Khan, a 25-year-old drug supplier who was operating from the areas close to Bandra Reclamation. It was also found that the supplier used to work for Dawood Ibrahim‘s aide Chinku Pathan. The accused has over 21 criminal cases registered against him, and the cases range from attempts to murder to kidnapping and threats.

• In June 2021, NCB conducted another raid at a bakery in Malad based on some information obtained, and they seized 10 cannabis-based brownie cakes and 35 grams of marijuana. They managed to catch three individuals, including a woman and the supplier Jagat Chaurasia. Later, the NCB team led by Sameer Wankhede raided Jagat’s place and found 125 grams of marijuana.

• In July, NCB nabbed another such racket when they arrested a 25-year-old professional psychologist Rahmeen Charaniya who was baking and selling brownies mixed with hashish, ganja, and charas. NCB recovered 10 kg of hashish brownies, 350 gm of opium, and Rs. 1.7 lakh cash from the residence.
  

  A lot of brownies recovered from the house

• In October 2021, Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB after they raided a cruise party in Mumbai. Sameer Wankhede busted a high-profile drug party on a cruise ship en route from Mumbai to Goa. During the raid, NCB seized cocaine, hashish, MD, and other drugs from the ship.
  

  Aryan Khan on his way for a court hearing after his arrest

• After Aryan Khan’s arrest, Sameer faced backlash from the public, saying that the NCB was just targeting the Bollywood industry and celebrities. In response to this, Sameer talked to The Times of India and said-
  

  We are doing our job. There is a rule and it should be followed by everyone. It is the same for all. Everyone is equal in front of the law and just because someone is famous we should let them go free. Why should celebrities don’t follow those rules and why should they walk away scot-free? Famous doesn’t give them the right to violate the rules? If we see a famous person breaking the law, we shouldn’t do anything about it? Should I only run after the drug peddlers and conduct my operations and raids in slums alone? This year we’ve made more than 310 arrests. How many of those are celebrities? We’ve seized illegal substances worth Rs 150 crores this year. Has anyone spoken about that?”

• He further talked about the arrest of Aryan Khan and two other big names from the industry. He talked about the charges under which they were arrested and said-
  

  In further development in Cr 94/21, the three accused namely Aryan Khan, Arbaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were arrested today on 03-10-2021 u/s 8 (c) r/w section 20 (b), 27, 28 & 29 of NDPS Act and were produced before the honorable holiday court today after their medical.”

• Sameer Wankhede is married to the Marathi actress Kranti Redkar, and they have twin babies. In conversation with ETimes TV, Kranti said-
  

  Sameer has always been a hard worker. His operations and cases were there even before too. Today, he is dealing with Bollywood-related drug probe cases, which is why it is getting highlighted. I give him his space when he is investigating or working on operations. He sometimes gets so busy that he can’t even sleep. He works 24/7. He barely sleeps for 2 hours. I never interfere or get involved when he is talking over the phone about a certain case. He does secret operations on an everyday basis, and he is not even allowed to reveal anything related to that with his family. Our twin babies sometimes miss him at home, which is obvious. They are three-year-old, and missing their father at home is obvious for them. But Sameer knows I am there at home to take care of his family, kids and he does not have to worry about anything. I am so proud that Sameer is sacrificing his personal life, kids and family for the nation.”

• Many sources have mentioned that Sameer Wankhede was a 2008 batch pass out from the UPSC examination, however, some sources have claimed that he was a part of the 2004 batch. ^[8]India Today

• Sameer Wankhede received a death threat from an Instagram user based in Bangladesh in October 2023. He soon reported the threat by sending an email to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and the Goregaon police station.  which led to a police investigation into the case. ^[9]India Today