Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Sunday slammed the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after an independent witness in the Mumbai cruise drugs bust case claimed that an official of the central agency and some other persons demanded Rs 25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan.
Taking to Twitter, Chaturvedi wrote: "This is shameful. What a fall for our various central agencies - we trusted them to root out terrorism, drugs, corruption and financial frauds.. but here’s what they have been reduced to!"
Prabhakar Rohoji Sail, an independent witness, has claimed that an official of the NCB and some other persons demanded Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan.
Sail, who is reportedly the personal bodyguard of Kiran Gosavi--the alleged private investigator whose selfie with Aryan went viral--also said that NCB officials asked him to sign nine to ten blank papers.
Sail claimed he heard Gosavi telling a certain Sam D'Souza over phone about a demand of Rs 25 crore and to settle at Rs 18 crore as they "have to give Rs eight crore to Sameer Wankhede (NCB Zonal Director)".
He further claimed that he had seen Pooja Dadlani (Shah Rukh Khan's manager) talking to Gosavi. He said that he was asked by Gosavi to go to a location to collect Rs 50 lakh cash. He said he collected two bags of cash and delivered to Gosavi. When counted, he said the bag had only Rs 38 lakh.
After these shocking claims, Maharashtra Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik, who has repeatedly termed the cruise drugs bust case as "fake", said Sail's claims were "very serious" and demanded a probe into it by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Talking to reporters in Beed, Malik reiterated his allegation that Wankhede was involved in "extortion and terrorising the Mumbai film industry", and said he will meet the chief minister and home minister on Monday in Mumbai seeking a SIT probe into Sail's claims.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in a tweet said, "Witness in AryanKhan case made to sign on blank paper by NCB is shocking. Also there are reports that there was demnd of huge money. CM UddhavThackeray said that these cases are made to defame Maharashtra. This seems to be coming true. Police should take suo moto cognizance."
However, an NCB official denied the allegations, terming them as "completely false and malicious".
(With PTI inputs)
