Fact Check: News of 2020 attack on Sameer Wankhede, NCB officials shared as recent
A post claiming that six officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), including NCB zonal officer Sameer Wankhede, were attacked by a group of 60 people
By Tejal Sinha Published on 30 Oct 2021 7:30 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A post claiming that six officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), including NCB zonal officer Sameer Wankhede, were attacked by a group of 60 people while they were trying to apprehend a drug peddler in Goregaon, Maharashtra, is being widely shared on social media.
It further states that the NCB team called the Mumbai police to bring the situation under control and arrested the drug peddler. Two officers suffered serious injuries and Wankhede was also hurt in the incident, it claims.
Fact Check
The claim is false.
NewsMeter performed a keyword search which directed us to a report by Lokmat published on 23 November 2020. It said, "Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal officer Sameer Wankhede and his team of five officers were attacked by a group of drug peddlers in Mumbai's Goregaon area. Wankhede and his team were attacked by around 60 people. It is being learnt that two officials were also injured."
The incident was also reported by Republic World in a report titled "NCB's Sameer Wankhede & 5 other officials attacked by mob of 50+ during anti-drug raid". It said, "A team of six members of the NCB including Sameer Wankhede were physically assaulted in Goregaon area in Mumbai during the search operations related to drug peddlers. Two NCB officials have sustained injuries. The team had arrived at the spot on the tip-off from drug peddlers. However, a mob of 50-60 people gathered at the venue to save the alleged drug peddler, and attacked the investigating officials. Wankhede stated that the Goregaon Police helped the officer escape from the mob. Some members of this group have been taken into custody as Wankhede and other officers successfully identified them. Wankhede expressed confidence that the drug peddler, whom they sought to arrest, will be arrested."
Various mainstream news organizations, including ABP News and NDTV, had also reported the incident on their YouTube channels.
Advocate and political analyst Ishkaran Singh Bhandari had also spoken of the attack on his YouTube channel on 23 November 2020.
On 23 November, ANI had tweeted, "Maharashtra: Three people arrested in connection with the incident where NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and his team were attacked allegedly by drug peddlers in Goregaon, Mumbai last evening. Two officers were injured. Further investigation is underway."
It is therefore evident that the claim made through the viral post is false. Sameer Wankhede and other NCB officials were attacked during a drug raid in 2020. The incident is not recent.
