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Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede had allegedly demanded Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan within the drugs-on-cruise case, the CBI officers have mentioned.
CBI booked Wankhede and others for alleged legal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and risk of extortion (388 IPC) apart from provisions pertaining to bribery below the Prevention of Corruption Act on a grievance from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Aryan Khan was arrested on October 2, 2021
Aryan Khan was arrested within the alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021, they mentioned.
A coordinated search operation was launched on Friday at 29 places in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Lucknow, Guwahati and Chennai after submitting the FIR in opposition to the 2008-batch IRS officer Wankhede and 4 others — then NCB Superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, Intelligence Officer Ashish Ranjan and two non-public individuals Okay P Gosavi and Sanvile D’Souza — within the case, they mentioned.
“It has been alleged that the said officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau of Mumbai Zone, in order to obtain undue advantage from the persons and others in the Case No. 94/2021… registered and investigated under the supervision of then Zonal Director of Mumbai Zone of NCB, had entered into criminal conspiracy with others and allegedly obtained undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused…”, a CBI spokesperson mentioned.
The probe company alleged the NCB, Mumbai Zone had acquired data throughout October, 2021 associated to the consumption and possession of narcotics substances by numerous people on a non-public cruise ship.
“It has also been alleged that the said persons entered into conspiracy in order to extort an amount of Rs 25 crore (approx) from family members of the alleged accused of the case No. 94/2021 of NCB, Mumbai, by threatening them of the accusation of offences of possession of narcotics substances as per the alleged directions of then zonal director (Wankhede) being the supervisory officer,” he mentioned.
A token quantity of Rs 50 lakh as bribe was allegedly obtained in furtherance of this conspiracy by the mentioned individuals, he mentioned.
Wankhede and different officers via “improper and dishonest performance” of responsibility, by “corrupt and illegal means” and “exercise of personal influence” demanded bribe from the suspect within the case registered by the NCB, the CBI FIR has alleged. The accused officer was on the helm of the Cordelia ship probe until November, 2021 when a Special Investigation Team of the NCB took over the investigation.
Aryan bought bail on Oct 28, 2021
Aryan Khan, who was formally arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28, 2021 after spending 25 days in jail. The NCB on May 27, 2022 additionally filed a 6,000-page cost sheet in opposition to 14 accused, giving a clear chit to Aryan Khan.
NCB officers mentioned Aryan Khan and 5 others had been not named within the company’s cost sheet due to “lack of sufficient evidence”.
Besides the NCB SIT discovered “grave irregularities” and gaps within the probe, the officers mentioned, including that the central company’s first crew that arrested Aryan did not comply with guidelines like obligatory medical take a look at of accused, video recording of the raids and corroborate proof for WhatsApp chats.
NCB Director General S N Pradhan had advised reporters in Delhi that there have been “shortcomings” within the investigation and WhatsApp chat of the accused had no “physical corroborative evidence” as required to show the costs within the court docket.
Wankhede, who headed the Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Unit in Mumbai on the time of Aryan Khan’s arrest, was transferred to the DG Taxpayer Service Directorate in Chennai in May final yr.
The much-hyped case took a twist when an ‘unbiased witness’ had claimed in 2021 that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and different individuals, together with a witness Gosavi, to let off Aryan Khan.
Prabhakar Sail, the ‘unbiased witness’, now deceased, had advised media individuals that he had overheard Gosavi telling D’Souza over the telephone in regards to the demand of Rs 25 crore after Aryan Khan was introduced to the NCB workplace after the October 2 raid.
He additionally claimed NCB officers had requested him to signal 9 to ten clean papers. However, a senior NCB official had denied the allegations, terming them as “completely false and malicious”.
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