Mumbai: Sameer Wankhede quizzed for over 5 hours by CBI, ACB in Aryan Khan bribery case

Mumbai: Sameer Wankhede quizzed for over 5 hours by CBI, ACB in Aryan Khan bribery case

Wankhede received relief from the Bombay High Court on Friday, which directed the CBI not to take any coercive action against him until May 22.

Dharmesh ThakkarUpdated: Sunday, May 21, 2023, 12:42 AM IST
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Mumbai: Sameer Wankhede quizzed for over 5 hours by CBI, ACB in Aryan Khan bribery case | ANI

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) questioned former Mumbai NCB chief Sameer Wankhede for over five hours on Saturday in a corruption case. He is alleged to have demanded a bribe of Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to avoid implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case.

Former NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede appeared before the CBI at BKC on Saturday morning for questioning regarding Aryan Khan's drugs-on-cruise case. This was his first appearance after the case was registered against him.

No coercive action till May 22

Wankhede received relief from the Bombay High Court on Friday, which directed the CBI not to take any coercive action against him until May 22.

He arrived at the CBI office at BKC around 10:15 am and, while entering the agency gates, said "Satyamev Jayate" to the media waiting outside. He left around 4:30 pm, taking a lunch break of around 30 minutes at 2 pm and returning to the CBI office to continue the investigation.

On May 11, the CBI booked Wankhede and four others for alleged criminal conspiracy, threat of extortion, and bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, based on a complaint by the NCB. The NCB Vigilance SET had raised concerns about lapses and irregularities in the Cordelia cruise ship operation, which was under Wankhede's monitoring.

Wankhede, in his plea seeking the quashing of the CBI FIR, claimed before the High Court that the "draft complaint" in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case initially named Aryan Khan as an accused but was later modified, and Aryan's name was dropped.

NCB Deputy Director General IPS Gyanendra Singh: Information note modified by the NCB Mumbai at the last moment

The CBI alleged that the NCB's Mumbai zone received information in October 2021 about the consumption and possession of narcotic substances on the Cordelia cruise, and some NCB officers conspired to receive bribes from the accused to avoid their arrest. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, in connection with the alleged drug seizure on board the Cordelia cruise ship. He was granted bail by the High Court three weeks later due to the anti-drug agency's failure to substantiate its charges against him.

NCB Deputy Director General IPS Gyanendra Singh, who supervised the probe against Wankhede, mentioned in an affidavit that the information note was modified by the NCB Mumbai at the last moment, with two names being included while names of other suspects were dropped. The affidavit states that Aryan Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant were named as accused in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case at the last moment by a team led by Sameer Wankhede.

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