The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has revealed that the family of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan received threats of implicating his son, Aryan Khan, in a narcotics case unless they paid a sum of Rs 25 crore (approximately $3.5 million), according to NDTV. The CBI FIR implicates Sameer Wankhede, a former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), as the individual who allegedly threatened the Khan family.
What did CBI probe find?
Wankhede gained prominence after the arrest of Aryan Khan and others during an alleged drug bust on a cruise ship in October 2021. He is currently facing allegations of corruption and criminal misconduct. The CBI investigation has also raised concerns about Wankhede's foreign trips and the purchase and sale of expensive wristwatches, as they seem inconsistent with his declared income.
The FIR filed by the CBI names four additional accused individuals, including Vishwa Vijay Singh and Ashish Ranjan, former senior officers of the NCB, and KP Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza. KP Gosavi, a witness in the drugs-on-cruise case, had taken a selfie with Aryan Khan after his arrest, raising questions about his access to the accused.
The CBI FIR highlights a conspiracy to extort Rs 25 crore from the Khan family by threatening them with narcotics-related accusations against Aryan Khan. The amount was ultimately settled at Rs 18 crore, with a bribe of Rs 50 lakhs allegedly taken by KP Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza. The FIR also alleges that Wankhede instructed Vishwa Vijay Singh to allow Gosavi to handle the accused, creating an impression of custody.
These allegations echo those previously made by Nawab Malik, a former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader, and Prabhakar Sail, a witness in the drugs-on-cruise case who passed away last year. Wankhede, who was transferred to the Directorate General of Taxpayer Services in Chennai, has claimed that the recent CBI raids at his residence are a result of his patriotism.
Case Against Sameer Wankhede
The central investigation agency had filed a corruption case against Sameer Wankhede on 12th May, the former Mumbai NCB zonal director, and three others in relation to the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case. The agency conducted raids at 29 locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi (Jharkhand), and Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), including Sameer Wankhede's premises.
Wankhede had conducted a raid on the Cordelia Cruise and arrested actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in an alleged drug case. Aryan was cleared of all charges by the NCB in May 2022 due to lack of evidence after spending four weeks in jail.
