New Delhi: According to people familiar with the development on Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against Sameer Wankhede, the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Wankhede is accused of demanding a ₹25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan in exchange for not framing his son Aryan Khan in a drug case in October 2021.
A few days ago, the Financial Crimes Investigation Agency filed a first information report (FIR) against Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, based on evidence from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that was filed in May of last year.
The ED is probably going to call him in for interrogation on the subject soon.
According to the officials mentioned earlier, Wankhede sued the high court, arguing that no coercive action should be taken against him, as soon as he discovered that the ED had filed a case against him.
He has already been spared coercive action in the CBI case by the high court.
The first information report (FIR) filed by the CBI on May 11, 2023 names Wankhede, intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan, former SP of NCB Vishwa Vijay Singh, and two private individuals, Kiran Gosavi and Sanville D’Souza, as accused. The FIR further claims that ₹25 crore was demanded from Shah Rukh Khan in exchange for not implicating his son Aryan in the October 2021 Cordelia drug case. The accused parties lowered their demand for bribes to ₹18 crore.
Wankhede and the other suspects in the case have previously been questioned by the CBI. The Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer has thrown out the allegations against him, claiming that some NCB officers’ “vendetta” was the reason behind the CBI action.
Aryan Khan was Arrested on On October 3, 2021 from a Cruise party near Mumbai
On October 3, 2021, Aryan Khan was taken into custody following the contentious raid on the Cordelia cruise ship in Mumbai. On May 27, 2018, Aryan Khan received a clean sheet from a special investigative team (SIT) established by the NCB, stating that Wankhede’s accusations about his involvement in a wider drug-dealing ring were untrue.
The names of Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant were tacked on to the agency’s “information note” at the last minute, according to an internal investigation conducted by NCB. Furthermore, the investigation discovered that Wankhede’s crew had not properly documented the seizure of phones or recorded statements.
In an affidavit submitted to the Bombay High Court, the NCB claimed that because Wankhede kept his conversations with actor Shah Rukh Khan “secret,” he was unable to use them as proof of his honesty.
Furthermore, the NCB stated, “it is pertinent to note that Wankhede had no reason to continue such chats with Shah Rukh Khan without informing his superior officers.” The CBI is presently examining these conversations as part of its investigation against the officer.