IRS officer Sameer Wankhede, who probed Rhea Chakraborty's drugs conspiracy link, has a Bollywood connection - Know more!

Image Courtesy (R): Instagram/@kranti_redkar

New Delhi: A top Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede was the one who probed actress Rhea Chakraborty's drugs conspiracy link in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. On September 6, a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team led by Sameer Wankhede reached Rhea's house in Mumbai to summon her for interrogation. Since then, all eyes are on the NCB team regarding the course of the investigation. 

(Image Courtesy: ANI)

Sameer Wankhede has also been trending for his role in the case and also for his special Bollywood connection. He is the husband of actress Kranti Redkar. 

Kranti is a well-known Marathi actress and has also worked with superstar Ajay Devgn in his 2003 film 'Gangaajal'. 

Sameer Wankhede and Kranti Redkar married in March 2017 in a private wedding ceremony. 

(Image Courtesy: Instagram)

Apart from being an actress, Kranti is also a filmmaker. 2014's Marathi film 'Kaakan' marked her debut as a film director. 

Meanwhile, Sameer Wankhede is a 2008 Batch IRS officer. His first posting was at the Mumbai airport as the Customs Officer. In the last two years, a probe led by Sameer and his team managed to seize drugs worth Rs 17,000 crore. 

Some of his posting and designations from 2008 to 2020 are mentioned below:

Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) - Deputy Commissioner

National Investigation Agency (NIA) - Additional SP

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) - Joint Commissioner

NCB - Zonal Director

While serving in the Customs department, he reportedly did not give custom clearance to many celebrities until they disclosed the goods bought in foreign currency and paid tax on it. He has booked more than two thousand celebrities for not paying the taxes.

View this post on Instagram

Extremely proud moment for us. @sameer_wankhede1979 is awarded the prestigious JAMADAR BAPU LAKSHMAN LAMKHADE award for MOST OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION IN PUBLIC SERVICE. #morepower #honest #diligent #daring #patriot *

A post shared by Kranti Redkar Wankhede (@kranti_redkar) on May 24, 2019 at 10:44am PDT

Interestingly, in 2013, Sameer caught singer Mika Singh at the Mumbai airport with foreign currency. The top-notch officer has also raided the properties owned by many Bollywood celebs, including Anurag Kashyap, Vivek Oberoi, Ram Gopal Varma. 

Even the cricket World Cup trophy which was made of gold was released at the Mumbai airport only after paying custom duty. Sameer Wankhede has also worked in the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

(With inputs from Rakesh Trivedi)