CBI books NCB officer, lawyer for ‘helping’ drug suspects in ED case

Mumbai: CBI has filed a corruption case against an intelligence officer of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the agency's public prosecutor for allegedly conspiring to help suspects in a 200kg cocaine smuggling case get discharged in a related money laundering case. The FIR also names one of the suspects.NCB officials came under scrutiny recently after ED decided to challenge the discharge before Bombay HC. It was revealed that NCB officials indulged in corrupt practices, prompting the agency director to order a preliminary enquiry (PE) against them. It was alleged that intelligence officer K Kiran Babu didn't inform his senior about the NDPS case's details and special public prosecutor for NCB Atul Sarpande falsely claimed in a letter to agency officials that "as on date, no litigation is pending in the present case before any court of law" against the accused despite a plea against discharge of one of the suspects in the NDPS case pending in HC. This opinion helped three NDPS case accused—Omprakash Nagoja, Umesh Bangur and Vijay Thorve—get discharged in the related money laundering case. The CBI FIR said, "It was also revealed that Umesh Bangur was present at the meeting of K Kiran Babu with Sanjay Kinjale/Shivaji Kinjale, from whom K Kiran Babu purchased one flat... in Tilak Nagar, Chembur, in July 2022. It shows that K Kiran Babu was having unofficial relationship with Umesh Bangur."The NDPS case pertained to the seizure of 200kg of cocaine at the Nhava-Sheva port in June 2006, in which CBI chargesheeted three businessmen—Nagoja, Bangur and Thorve. The trial court discharged Nagoja in Feb 2015. NCB filed a revision petition before HC, which was admitted in Sept 2018. Bangur and Thorve were discharged in May 2019, and the order was uploaded in March 2021. The CBI FIR said Bangur, in connivance with Babu, wrote a letter in May 2022 to NCB seeking the updated status of his case. Babu was neither the investigation officer nor the case handling officer, but he sought legal opinion from Sarpande. According to the FIR, the special public prosecutor incorrectly said: "In my considered views, all accused stand discharged from the case. We have not filed any revision application challenging discharge of the accused..." The NCB PE also referred to an instance involving another officer, Ashish Ranjan, who had earlier courted controversy over a case of alleged bribe demand of Rs 25 crore for not implicating actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, Aryan Khan, in the Cordelia drug bust case.