Sameer Wankhede, the former anti-drugs official responsible for the arrest of Aryan Khan, son of renowned actor Shah Rukh Khan, in a drugs-related investigation, allegedly engaged in extortion and other suspicious activities, according to a report filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), currently conducting an inquiry into Wankhede’s actions, relied on this NCB report to initiate their First Information Report (FIR). The agency has accused Wankhede and a few others of attempting to extort a bribe of Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan’s family. They allegedly threatened to fabricate evidence against Aryan Khan in connection with the alleged drug bust if the bribe was not paid.
The NCB’s vigilance department, as outlined in their report, raises concerns over the addition of Aryan Khan’s name, along with his friend Arbaaz Merchant, at the eleventh hour.
The allegations by CBI were already present in the public domain, when Nawab Malik had accused Wankhede of extortion in October 2021. The NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister had presented a letter which was allegedly sent to him by an anonymous NCB official.
This letter mentions the exclusion of certain other suspects. Furthermore, the letter indicates a lapse in protocol during the raid, where three suspects were permitted to leave without further action.
The report suggests that the custody of Aryan Khan exhibited a series of deliberate shortcomings, possibly orchestrated by Sameer Wankhede. These lapses served as an opportunity for Kiran Gosavi, an independent witness involved in the Mumbai cruise raid, to engage in misconduct and violate the laws.
To compound matters, the probe team discovered that the CCTV footage from the NCB office had been corrupted. Notably, the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and the physical copy of the night when Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office differed from what was submitted by the Mumbai team of the NCB, as disclosed in the report.