News Analysis India

Tag: NCB

  • Cruise drugs case: Court refuses to pass blanket order over Wankhede plea on witness ‘extortion’ affidavit

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A special court here on Monday said it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognizance of an affidavit of an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise episode, in which he has levelled allegations of extortion attempt by NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede and others on actor Shah Rukh Khan, whose son Aryan is an accused in the case.

    The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Wankhede had earlier in the day filed two separate affidavits before the special court against the allegations of extortion attempt levelled against them.

    In the affidavits, the anti-drugs agency and Wankhede sought the court to pass an order saying no court should take cognizance of the affidavit prepared by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail.

    As per the NCB and its zonal director, the allegations made by Sail were only an attempt to create hurdles and scuttle the investigation into the case.

    The central agency had also sought the court to pass appropriate orders to ensure there is no tampering with the evidence or investigation in the case.

    ALSO READ: After making claim of Rs 25 crore demand, NCB witness reaches Mumbai top cop’s office

    Special Judge V V Patil, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (MDPS) Act, disposed of the affidavits, saying such blanket orders cannot be passed.

    “Considering the nature of the relief claimed in the applications (affidavits), no such blanket orders can be passed. It is for the concerned court or authority to pass appropriate order at the relevant stage,” the court said.

    It added that the matter was sub-judice before the Bombay High Court which is scheduled to hear the bail pleas filed by Aryan Khan (23) and his co-accused in the drugs case Munmun Dhamecha on Tuesday.

    “Therefore, no such orders can be passed by the court as prayed. Hence, the applications are disposed of,” the court said.

    Wankhede, in his affidavit submitted to the court, refuted the allegations levelled against him, and claimed he was under a “lurking threat of arrest as it does not suit some vested interests for conducting an honest and impartial investigation”.

    The IRS officer also claimed that he was being personally targeted by a well-known political figure, and the only reason he can fathom is that the NCB had arrested “this person’s son-in-law Sameer Khan”.

    Notably, Sameer Khan, now out on bail, is the son-in-law of NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who has been making a series of allegations against Wankhede.

    On Sunday, Prabhakar Sail, in a statement to the media, claimed that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an official of the NCB and other persons, including absconding witness K P Gosavi, to let off Aryan Khan in the case.

    ALSO WATCH |

    Sail told media persons that he had overheard Gosavi telling one Sam D’Souza over the phone, after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office following the October 2 raid on the cruise ship, 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”.

    Sail had said he would soon release evidence to support his claim.

    The NCB and Wankhede rubbished these claims in their affidavits submitted to the court on Monday.

    “After spearheading the investigation in the cruise ship case, I am being personally targeted by a well-known political figure for reasons best known to him,” Wankhede said in his affidavit.

    Wankhede’s affidavit claimed personal vendetta against him and his family members.

    “I am under a lurking threat of arrest as it does not suit some vested interests for conducting an honest and impartial investigation,” Wankhede said, adding he was ready to face a probe to prove his innocence.

    The NCB zonal director added that the court should take cognizance of such pressures put on officers with an intent to demoralise them so that the truth does not come to light.

    “The present case (cruise drugs case) involves influential and rich persons from the higher echelons of the society in which all kinds of threats including that of arrest are made against me,” Wankhede said.

    The Narcotics Control Bureau, in its affidavit, termed the allegations levelled against Wankhede and other officers as “completely false, misleading and mischievous and an attempt to malign and tarnish the image of an independent agency like the NCB”.

    ALSO READ: NCB’s Wankhede slams minister Nawab Malik over forged birth certificate claims 

    “The allegations of extortion against NCB officials and money changing hands is a clear attempt to undermine the ongoing investigation and create pressure with a malafide and ulterior motive,” it said.

    The agency added that its officers, including Wankhede, have an impeccable service record, replete with honesty and integrity and they are working tirelessly towards making Mumbai a drug-free city.

    Special public prosecutor for the NCB, Advait Sethna, on Monday submitted the affidavits before the special court.

    Sethna told the court that Sail was threatening to release some evidence which would hamper the case and hence, appropriate orders should be passed.

    An NCB team led by Wankhede earlier this month allegedly seized drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast following which Aryan Khan and some others were arrested on October 3.

    He is currently lodged in the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai under judicial custody.

    The special NDPS court had last week refused to grant him bail following which he approached the high court.

  • ‘Family under pressure’: NCB’s Wankhede slams minister Nawab Malik over forged birth certificate claims 

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra NCP minister Nawab Malik on Monday claimed that Narcotics Control Bureau’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede used forged documents including his birth certificate.

    Malik tweeted a photo of the purported certificate, saying “Sameer Dawood Wankhede ka yahan se shuru hua furjiwada. (Sameer Dawood Wankhede’s document forging started from here).”

    Wankhede, an IRS officer of the 2008 batch, slammed the minister, saying his action was defamatory in nature and an invasion of his family’s privacy.

    The NCB official said he was pained by the nature of personal defamatory and slanderous attacks by the minister without any justification.

    Sameer Dawood Wankhede का यहां से शुरू हुआ फर्जीवाड़ा pic.twitter.com/rjdOkPs4T6
    — Nawab Malik نواب ملک नवाब मलिक (@nawabmalikncp) October 25, 2021
    “The series of acts of the minister over the past few days have put me and my family under tremendous mental and emotional pressure,” Wankhede said in a statement.

    An NCB team led by Wankhede earlier this month allegedly seized drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast following which Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was arrested on October 3.

    ALSO READ: NCB orders vigilance inquiry into ‘extortion’ affidavit against Sameer Wankhede

    Malik has repeatedly termed the cruise drugs bust case as “fake”.

    On Monday, the document posted by Malik on Twitter mentioned the name of the NCB official’s father as Dawood.

    Wankhede said his father’s name is Dnyandev, who was an excise official.

    Malik has been targeting Wankhede after his son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested in an alleged drug case.

    The minister had claimed that NCB officials booked Sameer Khan under wrong charges and no banned drug was found in his possession.

    Malik, who is also the NCP spokesperson, recently claimed that his government will soon put Wankhede behind the bars.

    On Monday, talking to a news channel in Nanded, Malik claimed that Wankhede is a Muslim by birth.

    “In the past 15 days, whenever I spoke on various subjects like the Maldives tour (of Wankhede), I didn’t get any answers and they were termed as political allegations. But, now the truth has come out,” he said.

    Malik stated that earlier the BJP had said his son-in-law and Aryan Khan are Muslims.

    ALSO READ: NCB, Sameer Wankhede move court against extortion allegations

    Later, the BJP’s “troll army” tried to create an environment, making it a Hindu-Muslim issue via Wankhede, he alleged.

    “NCB zonal director Wankhede’s name is ‘Sameer Dawood Wankhede’, and he is a Muslim by birth. I have published his birth certificate (online). I had to make an effort to find it. He got the IRS job on bogus certificate. I shall reveal more such acts of his ‘bogusgiri’,” he said.

    Malik also alleged that by “hiding” his religion, he (Wankhede) obtained fake documents and through this, the right of a backward class candidate was snatched.

    Notably, Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday came out in support of Wankhede and said targeting a Dalit officer who is doing good work is not right.

    Terming Malik’s allegations against Wankhede as “baseless” and “mischievous”, Athawale had defended the officer, saying he has not done anything wrong.

    ALSO READ: NCB’s Wankhede, middlemen demanded Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan to release son Aryan in drugs case, claims Witness

    Athawale had also accused Malik of trying to give a religious and casteist colour while targeting Wankhede.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Malik’s claims, Wankhede in a press release said the minister’s act of publishing his personal information on Twitter was “defamatory in nature and unnecessary invasion of his family’s privacy”.

    Wankhede said this was intended to malign him, his family, his father and late mother.

    In the statement, Wankhede mentioned that his father Dnyandev Kachruji Wankhede retired as senior police inspector of the state Excise department, Pune, in June 2007.

    His father is a Hindu and his late mother Zaheeda was a Muslim, the official said.

    Wankhede said he belongs to a “composite, multi-religious and secular family in true Indian tradition” and he is proud of his heritage.

    The NCB official also mentioned that he married Dr Shabana Qureshi in 2006 under the Special Marriage Act.

    Both of them divorced mutually through a civil court in 2016.

    Later, in 2017, he married Kranti Redkar, the official added.

  • Did man behind Aryan Khan’s arrest Sameer Wankhede forge caste certificate to get job?

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra NCP minister Nawab Malik on Monday claimed that Narcotics Control Bureau’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede used forged documents including his birth certificate.

    Malik tweeted a photo of the purported certificate, saying “Sameer Dawood Wankhede ka yahan se shuru hua furjiwada. (Sameer Dawood Wankhede’s document forging started from here).”

    Wankhede, an IRS officer of the 2008 batch, slammed the minister, saying his action was defamatory in nature and an invasion of his family’s privacy.

    The NCB official said he was pained by the nature of personal defamatory and slanderous attacks by the minister without any justification.

    Sameer Dawood Wankhede का यहां से शुरू हुआ फर्जीवाड़ा pic.twitter.com/rjdOkPs4T6
    — Nawab Malik نواب ملک नवाब मलिक (@nawabmalikncp) October 25, 2021
    “The series of acts of the minister over the past few days have put me and my family under tremendous mental and emotional pressure,” Wankhede said in a statement.

    An NCB team led by Wankhede earlier this month allegedly seized drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast following which Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was arrested on October 3.

    ALSO READ: NCB orders vigilance inquiry into ‘extortion’ affidavit against Sameer Wankhede

    Malik has repeatedly termed the cruise drugs bust case as “fake”.

    On Monday, the document posted by Malik on Twitter mentioned the name of the NCB official’s father as Dawood.

    Wankhede said his father’s name is Dnyandev, who was an excise official.

    Malik has been targeting Wankhede after his son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested in an alleged drug case.

    The minister had claimed that NCB officials booked Sameer Khan under wrong charges and no banned drug was found in his possession.

    Malik, who is also the NCP spokesperson, recently claimed that his government will soon put Wankhede behind the bars.

    On Monday, talking to a news channel in Nanded, Malik claimed that Wankhede is a Muslim by birth.

    “In the past 15 days, whenever I spoke on various subjects like the Maldives tour (of Wankhede), I didn’t get any answers and they were termed as political allegations. But, now the truth has come out,” he said.

    Malik stated that earlier the BJP had said his son-in-law and Aryan Khan are Muslims.

    ALSO READ: NCB, Sameer Wankhede move court against extortion allegations

    Later, the BJP’s “troll army” tried to create an environment, making it a Hindu-Muslim issue via Wankhede, he alleged.

    “NCB zonal director Wankhede’s name is ‘Sameer Dawood Wankhede’, and he is a Muslim by birth. I have published his birth certificate (online). I had to make an effort to find it. He got the IRS job on bogus certificate. I shall reveal more such acts of his ‘bogusgiri’,” he said.

    Malik also alleged that by “hiding” his religion, he (Wankhede) obtained fake documents and through this, the right of a backward class candidate was snatched.

    Notably, Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday came out in support of Wankhede and said targeting a Dalit officer who is doing good work is not right.

    Terming Malik’s allegations against Wankhede as “baseless” and “mischievous”, Athawale had defended the officer, saying he has not done anything wrong.

    ALSO READ: NCB’s Wankhede, middlemen demanded Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan to release son Aryan in drugs case, claims Witness

    Athawale had also accused Malik of trying to give a religious and casteist colour while targeting Wankhede.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Malik’s claims, Wankhede in a press release said the minister’s act of publishing his personal information on Twitter was “defamatory in nature and unnecessary invasion of his family’s privacy”.

    Wankhede said this was intended to malign him, his family, his father, and his late mother.

    In the statement, Wankhede mentioned that his father Dnyandev Kachruji Wankhede retired as senior police inspector of the state Excise department, Pune, in June 2007.

    “My mother was Muslim and my father a Hindu. I got married to Dr Shabhana Qureshi under the special marriage act. Then we got legally divorced and I married Kranti Redkar. There is a malicious campaign to defame me and my family members,” Wankhede added.

    Sources said Sameer Wankhede’s father converted to Islam to marry his wife Zaheeda and changed his name from Dnyandev to Dawood. However, Sameer Wankhede’s birth certificate was allegedly amended later to remove Dawood and insert Dnyandev as his father’s name. The changes were made when the BMC carried out the digitisation of birth and death certificates.

    “An FIR will be filed against Wankhede stating that he forged documents. An inquiry will be set up to verify his documents and caste certificates. If by birth Sameer Wankhede is Muslim, then he cannot be from the Hindu backward class. All the details will be unearthed in a probe,” said a government official, requesting anonymity.

    (With PTI inputs)

  • NCB orders vigilance inquiry into cruise drugs ‘extortion’ affidavit involving Sameer Wankhede

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the claims made by a witness in the cruise drugs case of an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some agency officials, including its Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, and others for letting off accused Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.

    The inquiry will be conducted by Gyaneshwar Singh, the NCB deputy director general (DDG) of northern region based at its headquarters here.

    Singh is also the chief vigilance officer (CVO) of the federal anti-narcotics agency.

    Prabhakar Sail, a witness in the cruise drugs case, had on Sunday claimed in an affidavit and in subsequent interactions with reporters in Mumbai that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and other persons to let off Aryan Khan from this case.

    Sail said he was the bodyguard of another witness in this case, K P Gosavi, who is absconding after the NCB raids that were conducted on October 3 at the cruise terminal on Mumbai’s coast leading to arrest of as many as 20 people, including Khan.

    Sail also claimed that he saw Gosavi meeting Shah Rukh Khan’s manager and that he was asked to sign “9-10 blank pages” in the presence of Wankhede after the cruise raids.

    “We have received the affidavit and a report from our DDG (northwest) based in Mumbai and the NCB director general has taken cognisance of this report. He has marked it to the vigilance section for inquiry. 

    “We are a professional organisation and we are open for inquiry against any allegation against our staffers. The inquiry will be transparent and fair,” Gyaneshwar Singh told PTI.

    ALSO READ: NCB, Sameer Wankhede move court against extortion allegations

    Asked if Wankhede will continue to probe the cruise case till this inquiry goes on, Singh said the question was “premature and we will take a call as the inquiry progresses and evidences are gathered.”

    Officials said the NCB inquiry will look at all aspects of the claims made by Sail and will also record the version of Wankhede and other officers of the Mumbai zonal unit involved in this drugs bust case.

    The inquiry team may also question Sail, they said.

    Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) of 2008 batch Customs cadre, is expected to join the inquiry at the NCB headquarters here in the next few days.

    He has denied the charges made in the affidavit by Sail.

    The officer on Sunday also wrote to Mumbai Police commissioner Hemant Nagrale, seeking protection from likely legal action “being planned” against him by unknown persons to falsely frame him concerning an alleged vigilance related issue.

  • Cruise drugs case: NCB, Sameer Wankhede move court against extortion allegations

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and its zonal director Sameer Wankhede approached a special court here on Monday against the allegations of extortion levelled against them in the cruise drugs seizure case in which actor Shah Rukh Khan’ son Aryan Khan is an accused.

    The anti-drugs agency and Wankhede in their affidavits said this was an attempt to create hurdles and scuttle the investigation in the case.

    The NCB in its affidavit sought that there should be no tampering with the evidence or investigation, while Wankhede refuted the allegations raised against him.

    On Sunday, an independent witness in the cruise drugs case, in a statement to the media, claimed that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an official of the NCB and other persons, including absconding witness K P Gosavi, to let off Aryan Khan in the case.

    Prabhakar Sail, the ‘independent witness’, told media persons that he had overheard Gosavi telling one Sam D’Souza over the phone, after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office following the October 2 raid, 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”.

    ALSO READ: NCB orders vigilance inquiry into cruise drugs ‘extortion’ affidavit involving Sameer Wankhede

    Sail had said he would soon release evidence to support his claim.

    The NCB and Wankhede rubbished these claims in their affidavits submitted to the court on Monday.

    Wankhede on Sunday also wrote to Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, seeking protection from likely legal action “being planned” against him by unknown persons to falsely frame him concerning an alleged vigilance related issue.

    Without taking names, Wankhede, an IRS officer of the 2008 batch, had claimed in his letter to Nagrale that the threat of jail and dismissal have been issued against him on public media by highly respectable public functionaries.

    An NCB team led by Wankhede earlier this month allegedly seized drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast following which Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3.

    He is currently lodged in the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.

    His bail application is likely to be heard by the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.

  • Cruise drugs case: Video showing absconding witness KP Gosavi recording Aryan Khan goes viral

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A video shared on Sunday by an ‘independent witness’ in the cruise drugs case purportedly shows absconding witness KP Gosavi recording an audio of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, at the NCB office here, in which hotelier Kunal Jani, who was earlier arrested in a separate drugs case, was also briefly seen.

    Prabhakar Sail, the ‘independent witness’, shared the video to media persons.

    ALSO READ| NCB’s Sameer Wankhede seeks protection from legal action amid bribery allegation

    The video that showed Jani, who is the director of a prominent restaurant in Bandra here, at the NCB’s office, triggered speculations that he had some connection in the raid conducted by the anti-drugs agency on the cruise ship earlier this month that led to the alleged seizure of drugs and arrest of Aryan Khan and others.

    Witnes in #AryanKhan case made to sign on blank paper by NCB is shocking. Also thr r reports that thr ws demnd of huge money .CM UddhavThackeray said tht ths cases r made 2 defame Mah’shtra.Ths seems 2b comng tru @DwalsepatilPolice shd tk suo moto cognizance@CMOMaharashtra pic.twitter.com/zipBcZiRSm
    — Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) October 24, 2021
    However, sources in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said that Jani was arrested by the agency in a separate drugs case and he was present at its office when Aryan Khan was brought there as his (Jani’s) statement was also being recorded.

    Jani was arrested by the NCB on September 30 in connection with a drug case wherein Agisilaos Demetriades, brother of actor Arjun Rampal’s partner, is also an accused. Demetriades was accused of running a drug syndicate.

    Jani got out on bail on October 10. NCB sources said that Jani’s name first appeared in the case linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials found a chat group of Jani and Rhea Chakraborty where drugs were being discussed.

    ALSO READ| Aryan Khan case: Maha minister demands SIT over ‘bribery attempt’ allegation

    Actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra is a partner in Jani’s hotel. Kundra is an accused in a pornographic films case, who got out on bail last month. Sail on Sunday also claimed that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an official of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and other persons, including Gosavi, to let off Aryan Khan, arrested in the case.

    Sail told media persons that he had overheard Gosavi telling one Sam D’Souza over the phone after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office after the October 3 raid 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”, the zonal director of the NCB.

    However, the NCB has denied the allegations.

  • Aryan Khan case: NCB’s Sameer Wankhede seeks protection from legal action amid bribery allegation

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: After the striking revelations of Rs 25 crore ransom being demanded by zonal director of NCB’s Mumbai unit Sameer Wankhede, the officer has written a letter to Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale seeking protection from any “precipitate legal action” against him based on “false charges” levied with “ulterior motives”.

    Earlier on Sunday, the anti-drugs agency witness Prabhakar Sail claimed that the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) has been engaged in a pay-off with actor Shah Rukh Khan’s manager and that Rs 8 crore of the demanded Rs 25 crore was to be set aside for Wankhede. They were also ready to settle at Rs 18 crore against the initial demand of Rs 21 crore of ransom amount.

    In his letter, Wankhede wrote, “It has come to my notice that some precipitate legal action for framing me falsely is being planned by unknown persons in relation to alleged vigilance related issue.” Earlier today, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik demanded an SIT probe against Sameer Wankhede with respect to the extortion allegation levelled against him by NCB’s prime witness Sail.

    The NCB also released a statement on the issue that read, “As he [Prabhakar Sail] is a witness in the case and the case is before the court and sub-judice, he needs to submit his prayer to the court rather than through social media if he has anything to say… Our zonal director Sameer Wankhede has categorically denied these allegations.”

    A  source said that the NCB and Wankhede are working speedily to contain the damage and at the same time seek legal protection. “Wankhede does not want to be the next Param Bir Singh in the State vs Centre fight therefore he has moved his card fast before the Mumbai Police registered an FIR against him. The police are waiting for an order and till then, they will not take any proactive decision in this case,” said the source requesting anonymity.

  • NCB’s Wankhede, middlemen demanded Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan to release son Aryan in drugs case: Witness

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: A startling revelation of an alleged bribery attempt was made on Sunday by a key witness in the cruise ship drugs case involving Aryan Khan.

    Prabhakar Raghoji Sail, an independent witness of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), claimed that a Rs 25 crore pay-off was demanded by NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and others from Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan Khan.

    However, a senior NCB official denied the allegations, terming them as “completely false and malicious”.

    Prabhakar Sail released a video message and a notarized affidavit claiming that after the detention of Aryan Khan, he overheard a phone call made to Shah Rukh Khan’s manager by KP Gosavi and Sam D’Souza at Lower Parel who demanded Rs 25 crore to release Aryan Khan. Sail is also the personal bodyguard of KP Gosavi, one of the independent witnesses whose selfie with Aryan Khan had gone viral.

    Sail in his affidavit claimed that Gosavi demanded Rs 25 crore but finally settled at Rs 18 crore to ensure Aryan Khan’s release.

    WATCH | Bombshell revelation of ₹25 crore bribe in Aryan Khan case:

    ALSO READ | Parenting crisis in Aryan (Khan) civilisation

    “Out of the total Rs 18 crores, Rs 8 crore was meant for Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede while the balance amount was to be shared among them. The meeting took place at Lower Parel where Shahrukh Khan’s manager came in blue Mercedes to meet them. But there was no positive response from Shah Rukh Khan’s manager,” Sail said in the affidavit.

    Sail revealed that while making the witnesses in this case, Sameer Wankhede took his sign on 8 to ten blank papers.

    ALSO READ | Mumbai cruise ship case: NCP minister Nawab Malik demands probe into ‘release’ of trio

    “I was hesitant to sign on blank paper but they insisted and told me that nothing will happen. They also took my Aadhaar card and I was made the witness number one in Aryan Khan’s case. My boss KP Gosavi was also a witness in this case. Before the cruise party raid, KP Gosavi visited Ahmedabad, and next night he came and called him at NCB for this operations,” Sail added.

    He said that after coming to know that his boss KP Gosavi has gone missing, he also now fears for his life. He claimed that there is a threat to his life from NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.

    “My family members are terrified and they are afraid that someone may kill me. Therefore, I decided to release the video and sign the affidavit. If something happens to my life, then NCB officials and others should be held responsible,” Sail demanded.

    Sail said that Gosavi got Rs 50 lakh in some cases to release a suspect. Out of this amount, Rs 38 lakh was given to Sam D’Souza while the rest Gosavi took.

    In Aryan Khan case also, since the ransom amount was not paid, he was not released after his arrest.

    The NCB, while stating that Wankhede has categorically denied the allegations, also said that as the matter is sub judice, Sail should have submitted his prayer to the court if he had anything to say.

    Mumbai NCB’s Deputy Director General (DDG) Mutha Ashok Jain issued a statement saying that he came to know through social media that Sail is a witness in the case.

    “As he (Sail) is a witness in the case and the case is before the honourable court and is sub judice, he needs to submit his prayer to the court rather than through social media if he has anything to say,” the statement said.

    In addition, there are certain vigilance-related allegations against certain persons in the affidavit, which are based on overhearing by Prabhakar Sail, it said.

    “Zonal Director of Mumbai NCB Sameer Wankhede has categorically denied these allegations.

    As some of the contents of the affidavit are related to vigilance matter, we are hereby forwarding the affidavit to the Director General (DG) NCB and requesting him for further necessary action,” the statement added.

    Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut commented on the new developments.

    “Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray rightly said that the drug cases are made up to malign the image of Mumbai and Maharashtra therefore he demands the high-level inquiry in this entire case,” Raut said.

    pic.twitter.com/kCFLcbJj5k
    — Sudhir Suryawanshi (@ss_suryawanshi) October 24, 2021
    (With inputs from PTI)

  • Cruise ship drugs case: Financial transactions of accused are under scanner, says NCB official

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is scrutinizing the financial transactions of all the arrested accused including actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the cruise ship drugs seizure case, an official said on Saturday.

    He also said that the agency would oppose the bail plea of Aryan Khan before the Bombay High Court, scheduled for hearing on October 26.

    The NCB has so far arrested 20 persons after raiding a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 and allegedly seizing narcotic drugs.

    The probe team has already collected transaction records of some of the accused from whom `commercial’ or large quantity of drugs (which attracts harsher punishment under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) had been seized, the official said.

    The agency is also checking the accused persons’ sources of income.

    The investigating team is extracting deleted messages and WhatsApp chats from mobile phones, laptops and other electronic gadgets of the accused and checking if they used any other social media platforms for communicating with each other, the official said.

    The NCB had allegedly found MDMA from some of the accused during the raid.

    This drug is mostly sourced from Europe and the United States, and the agency was probing from where the accused obtained it, the official said.

    Hydroponic weed seized from the accused had been procured through the dark net (clandestine Internet portals), he claimed.

    Actor Ananya Panday, who has been questioned by the agency in connection with the case, was cooperating with the investigation, the NCB official said.

    On Thursday the agency conducted searches at six locations in the city and seized mobile phones, laptops and other electronic gadgets from some suspects, he said.

    Earlier in the morning, Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani was seen visiting the NCB office in Ballard Estate in south Mumbai.

    On Thursday, an NCB team had visited the actor’s residence ‘Mannat’ in suburban Bandra.

  • Drugs-on-cruise case: Aryan Khan’s custody extended till October 30, Ananya Panday grilled

    By Online Desk

    The Special NCB Sessions court in Mumbai on Thursday extended the judicial custody of Aryan Khan and seven others till October 30 in the drugs-on-cruise case.

    The accused were not produced in court either physically or through video conference. Aryan Khan was earlier sent to 14-day judicial custody on October 7.

    Meanwhile, actor Ananya Panday’s residence in Mumbai was raided by the NCB sleuths. Her laptop and mobile phone were seized in connection with the drugs-on-cruise case. Later, Panday went for her questioning to the NCB office with her actor father Chunky Panday.

    Earlier on the day, Shah Rukh Khan met Aryan at the Arthur Road jail where the latter has been lodged following arrest in the drugs-on-cruise case.

    The actor reached the prison located in Mumbai Central around 9 am and left at 9.35 am, the official said. He met his son for about 10 minutes, according to sources.

    A large number of mediapersons and local residents had gathered outside the prison when the actor arrived. Heavy police security was also deployed outside the jail premises.

    So far, family members of the prisoners were not being allowed to visit the jail in view of the Covid pandemic. The prison authorities started allowing the family members of prisoners to visit them from Thursday morning, the official said.

    Aryan Khan had moved the Bombay High Court on Wednesday evening after a special NDPS court here rejected his bail plea in the afternoon.

    The special court, while refusing bail, had observed that Aryan Khan was involved in “illicit drug activities on a regular basis” and had a nexus with drug peddlers and suppliers.

    The lower court had also rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan’s friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha.

    The three were arrested on October 3 by the NCB after it raided the Goa-bound ship and claimed to have seized drugs, including charas. They are now in judicial custody.

    While Aryan Khan and Merchant are lodged at the Arthur Road prison, Dhamecha is lodged at the Byculla women’s prison in the city.

    The trio and others were held in the case for alleged conspiracy, possession, consumption, purchase and trafficking of drugs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

    So far, 20 people have been arrested in the case.