Sameer Wankhede evades question on contesting Lok Sabha polls, calls PM Modi 'real hero'

Sameer Wankhede, the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) who led the drugs probe against Aryan Khan, recently made a comment surrounding the buzz of him contesting Lok Sabha polls.

"Who knows what will happen tomorrow," he told India Today as he addressed a question on a report that hinted on his political debut in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Wankhede was sharing insights about a report published by Hindustan Times earlier this month which referred to his involvement in public functions at Washim in Maharashtra, where he and his wife Kranti Redkar were reportedly seen doing charity work. Wankhede hails from Washim.

While the former zonal director neither accepted nor refuted the details of the report, Wankhede told India Today in a exclusive interview, "I believe in serving the nation in whichever way possible and that is what I am doing. Regarding future (joining politics), I cannot speak anything at this moment."

On a question over who are his favourite heroes and the films he prefers watching, the former NCB director said that he was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that he was a "real hero".

"I prefer to talk about real heroes like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj," Wankhede added.

It must be noted that the Enforcement Directorate earlier this month filed a cased against Wankhede based on the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed by CBI. Wankhede is also under the scanner of probe agencies for allegedly accepting bribe amounting to Rs 25 crore in the Cordelia drugs-on-cruise bust case involving Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.

However, the deadline for the arrest of Wankhede in the aforementioned matters ends tomorrow, Friday— March 1, 2024. The ED last week apprised the Bombay High Court that it will not arrest the former NCB officer until March 1. A division bench of Justices P D Naik and N R Borkar accepted the statement and posted Wankhede's petition against the case on March 1.

Meanwhile, it is yet to be ascertained if Wankhede would step up to contest the Lok Sabha polls amid the ongoing investigations involving him.