Law enforcement officers are bleeding to serve the nation and cannot be humiliated in the name of satire, Sameer Wankhede, the former Mumbai zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, told NDTV in an exclusive interview today.
Wankhede, currently posted at the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management in Mumbai, has filed a defamation suit before the Delhi High Court against Red Chillies Entertainment Private Limited, the production house owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife, Gauri Khan. The suit relates to the Netflix series, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, directed by Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan. Wankhede has alleged that the series “disseminates a misleading and negative portrayal of anti-drug enforcement agencies, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions”.
Refusing to go into the details of a sub-judice matter, Wankhede said he had approached the court for the “honour” of his family. He claimed that his family was being trolled and threatened, even from abroad. “Secondly, I am fighting for the honour of the uniform and the law enforcement agencies that are toiling and giving their blood to serve the nation. They cannot be humiliated like that; they cannot be trolled like that. And thirdly, I am fighting for the honour of our national emblem, Satyamev Jayate, which cannot be mocked and made fun of,” he said.
Asked if the Netflix show can be seen as a “satire”, the Indian Revenue Service officer replied, “People who are serving the nation, all the officers who are in the field, those who are part of anti-drug drives – these things hurt. Satire is a different thing altogether, but humiliating officers who have given blood to the nation, who are fighting against anti-drug activities – when such things happen, officers also feel bad about it.” Wankhede said he will fight this legal battle no matter how long it takes. “I am ready to fight because it is a matter of justice, truth and my family honour. I respect and have full faith in the honourable judiciary,” he said.
The Ba***ds of Bollywood, the directorial debut of Aryan Khan, features a lookalike of Wankhede, and this triggered a wave of reactions on social media. Wankhede first made national headlines in 2021 during a raid on a cruise ship, leading to the arrest of Aryan Khan and others in a drugs case. The youngster spent 25 days in jail before he was released on bail. Later, all charges against him were dropped, and the CBI registered an extortion case against Wankhede and others for trying to blackmail Shah Rukh Khan.