Cordelia Drug Case: CBI To Enquire Munmun Dhamecha In Alleged Bribery Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday sent a communication to Munmun Dhamecha, one of the accused who was arrested along with Aryan Khan in the Mumbai drug cruise case in 2021, to record her statement on Thursday in a case registered against former Mumbai NCB official Sameer Wankhede by the CBI.

"Whereas it appears that you are acquainted with the circumstances of the case. You are hereby required to attend on Thursday at 11:00 am at CBI office at New Delhi or at your residence as per your convenience, along with a male member for the purpose of answering certain questions relating to the case," the communication stated.

CBI booked Wankhede and four others

The CBI had booked Wankhede and four others, including VV Singh Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Superintendent, intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan and two private persons KP Gosavi and Sanville D'Souza on May 11 for alleged criminal conspiracy and threat of extortion, besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint by the NCB.

In its FIR the CBI had alleged that "Gosavi, D'Souza and others had entered into a conspiracy to extort an amount of ₹25 crores from the family members of Aryan by threatening them with the accusation of offences of possession of narcotics substances. This amount was finally settled for ₹18 crores. A token amount of ₹50 lakh was also taken by Gosavi and his aide D'Souza but later a part of this amount of ₹50 lakh bribe money was returned by them."

Wankhede denied allegations

Previously, the CBI had made enquiries with Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede, D'Souza and Gosavi in the case. Wankhede had denied allegations against him.

Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, following the alleged drug seizure on board the Cordelia cruise ship. He was granted bail by the high court. The Cordelia probe was then taken over by the SIT of NCB which later gave a clean chit to Aryan and five others due to lack of sufficient evidence.