CBI interrogates former NCB chief Sameer Wankhede for 5 hours in Aryan Khan bribery case

New Delhi: The CBI on Saturday questioned former Mumbai NCB chief Sameer Wankhede for over five hours in a case accusing him of demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore from superstar Shah Rukh Khan to frame his son Aryan in Cordelia Cruise. is charged with. Drug bust’ case, said an official. Wankhede reached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) around 10.15 am. While talking to media persons while entering the agency’s office, Wankhede simply said “Satyamev Jayate” (Truth alone triumphs). He did not talk to media persons while leaving the office. At around 2 pm, the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer was given a lunch break of about 30 minutes. He returned to the CBI office and joined the investigation. The official said he left for the day at around 4.30 pm. The officer said this was his first appearance before the agency after the case was registered against him.

The CBI had on Thursday summoned the former Zonal Director of the Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for questioning in connection with the case, but he did not appear that day. The central agency had on May 11 registered a case against Wankhede and four others on a complaint by the NCB under provisions related to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, besides alleged criminal conspiracy and threats of extortion.

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On Friday, Wankhede got relief from the Bombay High Court, which directed the CBI not to take any “coercive action” like arrest against him till May 22. Seeking quashing of the FIR, Wankhede alleged before the HC that the “draft complaint” named Aryan Khan as an accused in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case, but later changed it Gone and Aryan’s name was dropped.

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Among other things, his petition also provided transcripts of Aryan’s phone chats with Shah Rukh Khan during his stay in NCB custody. It quoted Khan as pleading with Wankhede to be kind to his son and praising the officer for his “honesty”. He was granted bail by the High Court three weeks later as the anti-drugs agency had failed to prove its allegations against him.

The CBI alleged that the Mumbai zone of the NCB had received information about the consumption and possession of narcotics by various persons on a cruise ship in October 2021 and that certain officers of the NCB conspired to receive bribes from the accused in exchange for their release .