After Aryan Khan Fiasco, Anti-Drugs Agency Plans Big Changes, Say Sources

New Delhi:

Drugs control agency Narcotics Control Bureau, its image dented by the Aryan Khan controversy where only a small quantity of drugs were involved, has now decided to focus only on big cases, sources have said. The agency is likely to bring in a new policy, in which information related to recovery of small amounts of drugs will be passed on to the local police, sources said.

Sources said the agency will handle cases linked to big syndicates, underworld narco terrorism and highly sensitive drugs. The agency will also augment its staff strength from the current 1,100 to 3,000.

The high profile drugs-on-cruise-ship case — where only a small amount of drugs were involved —  had made headlines owing to the presence of Aryan Khan, the son of megastar Shah Rukh Khan and a few other Bollywood personalities.  

But though the agency claimed that it was after the international cartels routing drugs, the actual amount of drugs recovery, which was quite small, had raised questions.

The Vigilance team has again interrogated the three big investigating officers of that team, former Joint Director Samir Wankhede, former Investigating Officer VV Singh and Ashish Prasad at its Delhi Headquarters.

After the Aryan Khan case, the NCB has conducted two major operations in Gujarat, where a huge quantity of drugs were recovered. Officials say they busted a pan-India drugs syndicate, arresting 22 people from across the country.

Currently, the agency is working on three major operations apparently  involving international drugs cartels.