Maharashtra
Sameer Wankhede: NCB scarecrow cooks up Bollywood’s “shraadh”

“Lights, Cameras… Raid…!” When the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede planned a rave party raid aboard the Cordelia Cruise luxury ship, one thing was guaranteed — tonnes of publicity, even if the actual drug recovery maybe a few tolas.
For, among those present on the ship on October 2 was Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan and producer Gauri, besides a few others from the glam-entertainment world.
Truly, a ‘heady’ ambience for the NCB’s high-profile operation, a first-ever on a luxury cruiser in India, and he effected a big haul of big names, but barely any worthwhile quantity of drugs.
Amid a national furore and international attention, Wankhede zoomed around to catch a total of 20 alleged junkies by their collars and dumping them in the lockup, all the while basking in the reflected glory.
In the past over a year since Wankhede, 42, (IRS 2008), was deputed to the IPS-dominated NCB for the late Sushant Singh Rajput death probe — he jumped head-first with surgical strikes to “uproot the drug citadel in Bollywood and Mumbai”.
Many well-known names like Arjun Rampal, Rhea Chakravorty, Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Sara Ali Khan, comedy couple Bharti Singh and Harsh Limbachiya, Armaan Kohli and the latest, Aryan Khan, were trapped in his net, and at one point he even went tantalisingly close to the Karan Johar’s ‘girebaan’ (collar).
Earlier, during his stint at the Mumbai Airport Customs, Wankhede dabbled in his favourite glamour game — cornering/detaining people like Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Mika Singh, Minisha Lamba, Vivek Oberoi, Ram Gopal Verma, etc., and once even the 2011 World Cup Cricket Trophy made of gold-silver, which was ‘released’ after the BCCI coughed out the customs duty!
A far cry from the days when the NCB was a ghost, its name rarely heard in public — like the 2001 arrest of actor Fardeen Khan — compared with the daily parade of a charade now, akin to a ‘saas-bahu serial’.
If Wankhede was hoping for a pat or promotion, there was some disappointment — this time suddenly chinks were exposed both in the anti-drug actions and intentions, the NCB’s reputation in tatters — and the hunter became the hunted.
The name dreaded by Bollywood suddenly came under intense scrutiny as the Nationalist Congress Party Minister Nawab Malik single-handedly snooped on the super-sleuth — to hammer hollow the NCB’s credibility.
Like a thirsty bloodhound, the bearded, bespectacled Malik coolly launched a serial expose to prove Wankhede’s actions as ‘farjical’ (fraudulent) strikes — unearthing Bharatiya Janata Party-linked ‘independent witnesses’, his unsavoury friends, a wanted-nabbed criminal, alleged fake caste certificate, religious credentials, etc., that rattled the officer.
As Aryan Khan remained in a vice-like grip for 29 nights, Wankhede spent sleepless nights, ran from one NCB probe to another, knocked the doors of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the DGP Sanjay Pandey, Mumbai CoP Hemant Nagrale, the NCSC, the Special NDPS Court and the Bombay High Court.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government has cried foul at Wankhede’s unceremonial attempts to perform Bollywood’s last rites and exorcise it’s spirit to other glamour-parched locales like Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh.
Some politicians like Shiv Sena’s Kishore Tiwari have accused him of a ‘danga’ targeting film personalities to help perch his wife Kranti Redkar-Wankhede — a Marathi actress — as Bollywood barely beckons.
There are other dubious firsts — how crucial ‘witnesses’ are bared in public glare which can seriously hamper the NCB’s usually covert and sensitive operations with global ramifications henceforth, the unprecedented witness allegations of extortion bids with Wankhede’s name tossed, or the accusations and probes he faces now from various quarters.
As is common knowledge, the real ‘drug bunkers’ are not in Bollywood, but on the outskirts of Mumbai and the NCB’s overzealous James Bonds could take up the tough challenge instead of ‘boo-ing’ soft targets in the glamour-industry.
A grim Malik has warned of more aces up his ‘kurta’ sleeve, vowing that “picture abhi baaki hai”, will end only after Wankhede’s sack and jail.
With many BJP leaders openly supporting him, only time will tell if Wankhede is a political puppet or a pure patriot.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
General
Maharashtra SSC Result 2023: MSBSHSE announces helpline numbers for class 10 students accessing scorecards

Mumbai: Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has announced the class 10 results for students at official websites such as mahresult.nic.in and sscresult.mkcl.org.
While the overall pass percentage across the state stands at 93.83%, the Konkan district has come out on the top with 98.11%. The Nagpur division records the lowest pass percentage (92.05%).
The pass percentage has also dropped by 3.18% when compared to last year, while in comparison with the pass percentage of 2019-20, which was pre-pandemic, there is a drop of 1.47 percent.
What should students do if they are facing glitches in SSC results 2023?
If students are facing any glitches accessing the results online, they can on the following contact numbers: 020-25705209, 020-25705203, 020-25705204, 020-25705206, 020-25705207, and 020-25705151.
Here’s a region-wise list of students scoring 100%
Latur – 108
Aurangabad – 22
Amravati – 7
Mumbai – 6
Pune- 5
Konkan – 3
Maharashtra
Mumbai news: FIR against NCP leader Jitendra Awhad for his remarks against Sindhi community

Mumbai: An FIR has been registered against NCP leader Jitendra Awhad at Hill Line Police Station for his remarks against Sindhi community. Thane Police said Sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc) 153B, 295A(deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens) and 298(deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person) of the IPC invoked in the FIR.
Crime
Mumbai News: FIR against 2 websites for allegedly publishing defamatory content against Savitri Bai Phule

Mumbai police have registered an FIR against two websites for allegedly publishing defamatory content against social reformer Savitri Bai Phule. “The websites IndicTales and Hindupost are alleged to have published defamatory content against Savitri Bai Phule. The FIR is registered at Azad Maidan police station under sections 500 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” read an official statement by Mumbai Police.
Further, according to the release, the FIR was registered on a complaint lodged by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders against these websites. The NCP leaders met the Mumbai police commissioner and filed the complaint, the release added.
NCP’s Plea for Police Intervention
In a move to counter the defamation of Savitribai Phule’s image, the NCP has sought police involvement. The party has highlighted the need for action against websites that are spreading false and derogatory information about Phule, tarnishing her reputation. By urging the police to intervene, the NCP aims to safeguard the legacy of Phule and prevent the dissemination of misleading content that could harm her well-deserved reputation.
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