In more trouble for NCB’s Sameer Wankhede, who is facing a vigilance inquiry after a witness in the Aryan Khan case accused him of a payoff, the agency is now likely to open a probe into how an outsider reached Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son while he was in custody.
Sources told CNN-News18 that as per law, no one is allowed near accused in police custody and the Investigating Officer (IO) — Wankhede in this case — is solely responsible for the protection of accused and person in custody. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) feels this is a serious breach and should also be investigated separately.
The development comes after a selfie of KP Gosavi — a witness in the case and a private detective — with Aryan Khan had gone viral. Speaking to CNN-News18, Gosavi on Monday said he will surrender as there is a threat to his life.
Gosavi further clarified that the selfie that had gone viral had been taken on the cruise terminal and not at the NCB office. He said he had received information about the drugs racket from a source and informed the NCB. He claimed there was a threat to his life, and he had received several extortion calls after October 3, adding that political agendas were behind it.
Wankhede, who has been at the helm of trying to expose the Bollywood-drugs nexus since actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his home, has been facing flak from several politicians, especially Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, for his probe into the Aryan Khan case.
Reports say the NCB may transfer to a new officer the Mumbai cruise drugs case amid a vigilance inquiry being ordered against Wankhede. The officials were of the view that since a vigilance inquiry has been ordered against Wankhede, it’s not correct for him to further probe the matter. The agency will take the final call after CVO Gyaneshwar Singh’s visit to Mumbai on Wednesday but the top brass is considering a change.
The NCB on Monday ordered a vigilance inquiry into the claims made by a witness in the cruise drugs case of an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some agency officials, including its Mumbai zonal director Wankhede, and others for letting off accused Aryan Khan.
Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the cruise drugs case, had on Sunday claimed in an affidavit and in subsequent interactions with reporters in Mumbai that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and some other people linked to the case to let off Aryan Khan from this investigation.
Sail said he was the bodyguard of another witness in this case, KP Gosavi, who is absconding after the NCB raids that were conducted on October 3 at the cruise terminal on Mumbai’s coast leading to the arrest of as many as 20 people, including Khan.
Sail also claimed that he saw Gosavi meeting Shah Rukh Khan’s manager and that he was asked to sign “9-10 blank pages” in the presence of Wankhede after the cruise raids. “We have received the affidavit and a report from our DDG (south-west region) based in Mumbai and the NCB director general has taken cognisance of this report. He has marked it to the vigilance section for inquiry.
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