Who Is Sanjay Kumar Singh? The IPS Officer Who Replaces Sameer Wankhede In Aryan Khan Drugs Case

Aryan Khan Drugs Case: Before joining the NCB, Sanjay Kumar Singh was in the Drug Task Force (DTF) of the Odisha Police as Additional Director General (ADG).

Sanjay Kumar Singh (left) and Sameer Wankhede. Images: CBI & ANI

Drugs on Cruise Case: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) transferred the investigation of 6 cases including the cruise drugs case related to Aryan Khan from Sameer Wankhede to its operational unit in Delhi. The team of Deputy Director General (Operations) Sanjay Kumar Singh at NCB Headquarters will investigate it.

This team will reach Mumbai on Saturday and will take over the investigation.

It has to be noted that the operational unit of NCB has jurisdiction across the country and is currently headed by DDG Sanjay Kumar Singh. Sanjay Singh is a 1996 batch IPS officer of the Odisha cadre. He was also an Inspector General of Police (IGP), Odisha Police, and as an additional commissioner of Odisha Police.

Before joining the NCB, he was in the Drug Task Force (DTF) of the Odisha Police as Additional Director General (ADG). He had overseen several anti-drugs drives in Bhuvaneshwar during his tenure. He was also in CBI till 2015. 

Sanjay Kumar Singh was sent on deputation in January 2021, and he joined the Narcotics Control Bureau as the deputy director-general (DDG).

Officials said a team from the Delhi NCB Operations Unit will camp in Mumbai to take forward the investigation of the cases.

NCB Deputy Director General (North-West Zone) Mutha Ashok Jain said the action has been taken on an "administrative basis" and since these six cases have "widespread and inter-state ramifications", they should be operationalized in Delhi. The unit has been transferred. Wankhede, who is facing several personal and service-related charges, will continue to be the regional director.

The NCB had arrested actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and others in the cruise case on the intervening night of October 2-3. Aryan was released from jail on 30 October. The Wankhede case is facing a departmental vigilance inquiry after an independent witness claimed an extortion attempt.

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who has leveled several allegations against Wankhede after the NCB's decision, said the removal of the NCB officer from the case is "just the beginning".

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Malik said, "Sameer Wankhede has been removed from five cases, including the Aryan Khan case. There are total 26 cases which need investigation. This is just the beginning... a lot more needs to be done to clean the system and we will."