The Aryan Khan drugs case has witnessed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) intensifying its scrutiny of former Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede.
According to an FIR filed by the CBI on May 12, Wankhede allegedly granted considerable freedom to independent witness KP Gosavi (known for the viral selfie with Aryan Khan) to extort Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan. The duo purportedly threatened Khan’s family with “accusations of possessing narcotics substances.”
Aryan Khan’s arrest took place on October 3, 2021, during an NCB raid on the Cordelia cruise ship. However, after spending 25 days in jail, Khan was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28. Notably, Khan’s name was not included in the list of accused individuals in the NCB charge sheet due to a lack of evidence.
According to the FIR filed by the CBI, it was stated that the NCB included independent witnesses KP Gosavi and the late Prabhakar Sail in the drug raid on the cruise ship under the instructions of Sameer Wankhede.
Initially, they demanded Rs 25 crore from Aryan Khan’s family, but later settled on an amount of Rs 18 crore, as mentioned in the CBI’s FIR.
Additionally, KP Gosavi and his associate, Sanvile D’Souza, initially accepted a token amount of Rs 50 lakh. However, a portion of this amount was later returned.
The CBI FIR further stated, “Sameer Wankhede, as the former Zonal Director of the NCB and the immediate supervisory officer, directed the inclusion of KP Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail as independent witnesses in the proceedings against the accused. He also directed VV Singh to allow KP Gosavi to handle the accused while taking him to the NCB office, thereby granting KP Gosavi and others a significant level of autonomy to create a visual impression of KP Gosavi having custody of the accused and escorting him forcefully towards the NCB Mumbai office.”
The recent FIR filed by the CBI names several individuals including Sameer Wankhede, former NCB SP VV Singh, intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan, KP Gosavi, and Sanvile D’Souza.
The CBI is also investigating Wankhede’s foreign visits and assets. It was discovered that Wankhede failed to properly declare the source of his foreign visits. The FIR also mentioned his involvement in the sale and purchase of expensive wristwatches with a private entity named Viral Rajan without informing the department.
In response to the raids conducted by the CBI on his properties, Wankhede defended himself, stating that he was being targeted for being a patriot. He mentioned that his Mumbai residence was raided by around 13 individuals from the CBI, lasting for 12 hours while his wife and children were present.
The CBI carried out searches in a total of 29 locations, including properties belonging to Wankhede in Kanpur, Ranchi, and Delhi, according to India Today’s report.
About Aryan Khan Drug Case
Sameer Wankhede shot to prominence after arresting Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan along with his two friends on October 2, 2021, during a drug raid at Cordelia cruise ship that was to depart from Mumbai to Goa.
Khan was in custody for 25 days with the NCB, during which he was also sent to Arthur Road jail. However, due to lack of evidence, the court released him on October 28, 2021.
NCB leader Nawab Malik had levelled several allegations against Wankhede. He had said that the NCB officer was a born Muslim and had forged his identity to secure a government job through the SC quota.
Malik had also alleged that there was a liquor bar operating in the name of Sameer Wankhede in Mumbai.
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