CBI summons ex-NCB officer Sameer Wankhede in cruise drug seizure case

CBI issued summons to ex-NCB officer Sameer Wankhede in the cruise drug seizure case pertaining to Aryan Khan

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday issued summons to former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede in the cruise drug seizure case pertaining to Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.

The CBI has asked Mr. Wankhede to record his statement on May 18. Mr. Wankhede had come to limelight following the high-profile October 2021 raids by the NCB on a Mumbai cruise after which the agency had arrested Mr. Aryan Khan and 19 others and claimed to have seized some narcotics too.

The Central agency filed a First Information Report alleging corruption and serious irregularities owing to which an “independent witness” in the cruise ship case had allegedly conspired with others to extort ₹25 crore from the family of Mr. Khan.

In its complaint, the NCB has alleged that on receipt of information about the consumption and possession of drugs by various persons on the Cordelia Cruise ship on October 2, 2021, Mr. Wankhede and the then Superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh had formed a team for conducting search and seizure operation at the entry gate of the International Terminal Building of the Mumbai Port Trust and the Cordelia Cruise.

Intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan Prasad was made the investigating officer, while Kiran Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail were taken as “independent witnesses” in one of the incidents in the case. The seizures and arrests were carried out under the supervision of the three NCB officials.

Following the graft charge, the NCB conducted an inquiry and found that names of certain suspects had allegedly been dropped from the first information note and those of some others included subsequently through modification to suit the proceedings. The initial note contained 27 names and the modified one only 10. Several passengers were searched at the departure gate of the Mumbai Port Trust. During the exercise, one Arbaaz A. Merchant accepted that he was carrying “ charas” hidden inside his shoes and it was seized.

The NCB alleged that as per the findings of its vigilance branch, Mr. Wankhede had not properly explained his foreign visits and had apparently mis-declared the expenditure on his foreign travels. He had also not declared the source of foreign visits properly. Besides, he had indulged in the sale and purchase of expensive wrist watches with a private entity, Viral Rajan, without intimating the authorities concerned.