Drugs-on-cruise: NCB's Sameer Wankhede denies pay-off charge in Aryan Khan case

Mumbai, Oct 24: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has said that zonal director Sameer Wankhede has denied the allegations made by one of the witness, Prabhakar Sail, in the Mumbai cruise drugs case.

"As he 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," NCB said in a statement.

"There are certain vigilance-related allegations against certain persons in the [witness] affidavit which are based on overhearing by Prabhakar. Our zonal director Sameer Wankhede has categorically denied these allegations," it added.

The witness' affidavit will be forwarded to the director general of the NCB for "further necessary action", the statement further said.

Sail claimed that an official of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and some other persons demanded Rs 25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan Khan in the case.

Prabhakar Sail, a witness in the case, told mediapersons that NCB officials also asked him to sign nine to ten blank papers.

NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede earlier this month led the agency's 'drug bust' on a cruise ship following which Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3. He is currently lodged in the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.

On Sunday, Sail alleged that an official of the NCB, Gosavi and another person, named Sam D'Souza, had demanded Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan to release his son.

Sail, who is the personal bodyguard of Gosavi and accompanied him on the night of the raid, said after Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office, Gosavi met D'Souza.

Sail claimed he heard Gosavi telling 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".

Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister and NCP spokesman 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).