Exclusive | Mumbai Drugs Case: No Access to Gosavi, Police Rebuff Have Hit Vigilance Probe, Say NCB Sources

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) vigilance inquiry into the extortion allegations against its zonal director Sameer Wankhede has been hampered by lack of access to key witness Kiran Gosavi and the uncooperative attitude of the police in Maharashtra, sources told CNN-News18. The agency is probing the pay-off allegations in the Cordelia cruise drugs case in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan‘s son Aryan Khan is an accused. Prabhakar Sail, who claims to be the bodyguard of NCB witness KP Gosavi, has said in an affidavit that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25-crore deal after Aryan Khan, who is now out on bail, was arrested by the NCB. Sail alleged Gosavi had said that Rs 8 crore of the money was to be given to NCB Mumbai zonal director Wankhede.

The sources said that Gosavi is the most important player and the NCB has still not been able to record his statement. Gosavi was arrested by Pune police late last month in connection with a cheating case. On Thursday, a court remanded him in police custody until November 17. Gosavi’s photos and videos with Aryan Khan went viral on social media after the NCB raided the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 following information of drugs on board. Aryan was arrested in connection with the case on October 3.

According to the sources, Mumbai police is also not cooperating with the NCB and requests for CCTV videos pertaining to the matter have been denied. The footage is important to corroborate important facts, said the sources. The NCB’s vigilance team, headed by deputy director general (northern region) Gyaneshwar Singh, who is also the agency’s chief vigilance officer (CVO), had reached Mumbai from Delhi on Monday morning.

The probe team has said that right now, the case has turned into a social media game with details, including Sail’s affidavit on which suo moto inquiry was ordered, first appearing on online sites. The complainant is not ready to give a complaint in writing, said the sources.

Wankhede has been denying the charges against him and it is difficult to assess anything at this time, the sources said.

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