Sameer Wankhede's Alleged Chats With Shah Rukh Khan Violate Rules: NCB Officials

Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede violated the rules by producing purported chats with Shah Rukh Khan during Aryan Khan's arrest in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case, in the court as his defence in the corruption case against him.

"Sameer Wankhade giving chats in the court is against the conduct rules of NCB. How an investigating officer can have such chats with the family of the accused?" NCB officials told news agency ANI.

Wankhade, who is accused of seeking a bribe of Rs 25 crore in the Cordelia drugs-on-cruise bust case involving Aryan Khan submitted WhatsApp chats in the Bombay High Court.

According to the the petition, Khan repeatedly begged Wankhede to go easy on Aryan Khan.

The CBI recently filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.

In its FIR, the CBI claimed that the NCB team headed by Sameer Wankhede allowed people who were actually in possession of drugs and the supplier as well to go. 'Arbaaz Merchant had confessed of possession Charas to NCB but he was allowed to go,' it said.

CBI claimed that Gosavi, an independent witness was allowed to handle the accused violating the rules. Wankhede shot to fame in 2021 when he arrested Aryan, among others, in an alleged drugs procurement and consumption case following a raid led by him on a cruise ship in Mumbai on 2 October that year.

During the raid, the NCB had seized 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of mephedrone, 21 grams of marijuana, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), and Rs 1.33 lakh in cash from the cruise vessel.

Charges against Aryan Khan, who spent four weeks in jail, were dropped by the anti-drugs agency in May 2022 due to lack of sufficient evidence.

The central probe agency booked Wankhede and others for alleged criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and threat of extortion (388 IPC) besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint from the NCB.