Aryan Khan was exonerated in the drugs-on-cruise case by an IPS officer who oversaw the NCB’s SIT. The officer is voluntarily retiring

A year ahead of schedule, the chief of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) established by the Narcotics Control Bureau to look into the drug bust case in Cordilia involving Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan has voluntarily retired from the force. The Ministry of Home Affairs referred his plea for VRS to the Odisha government. He had his request granted on Thursday.

Currently serving as the Deputy Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau, Sanjay Singh is an Indian Police Service officer of Odisha cadre, having joined in 1996. He still had one year remaining in his service.

“I had requested to be retired from the Army voluntarily on February 29. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the state government of Odisha would be the appropriate body to grant my request. I received word today that my request was granted, and my final date will be April 30. The three-month notice period has been shortened for me,” Singh told The Indian Express.

After being appointed as the NCB’s DDG in January 2021, Singh oversaw the Special Investigation Team, which succeeded Mumbai NCB chief Sameer Wankhede in November 2021 in handling the drugs-on-cruise case. Aryan Khan was eventually given the clean sheet in the case by the SIT. After controversy surrounding the investigation headed by Wankhede, the Zonal NCB Director at the time, Singh established the SIT.

The SIT decided that there were discrepancies in the previous investigation and insufficient evidence to identify the six people who were implicated in the case after starting the investigation again. In May 2022, the NCB presented a chargesheet in which it charged 14 people while clearing six others, including Aryan Khan, of any wrongdoing.

Singh held a number of positions before joining the NCB, including Additional Director General (ADG) of the Odisha Police and chief of the Drug Task Force (DTF). In addition, he managed other high-profile cases while serving as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) with the CBI from 2008 until 2015.