Mr Wankhede and others had allegedly demanded Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Aryan Khan in the alleged drug bust, said officials.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday registered a corruption case against former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede who arrested Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in a drugs case two years ago.
The case was registered against three public servants, including Sameer Wankhede, and raids are underway at 29 locations.
The corruption case was registered against Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service officer, following a preliminary inquiry by the CBI on the basis of a vigilance report. During the viligance inquiry, it was found that Sameer Wankhede amassed assets through corruption.
In the raid, the NCB claimed to have 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, following which they arrested 17 persons, including Aryan Khan. Wankhede was accused of doing “shoddy investigation” in the case.
Aryan Khan was eventually released on bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28. Eventually, another NCB team that investigated the matter did not chargesheet him in the case, citing insufficient evidence.
Last week, the NCB terminated the services of its superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh who was a member of the team that raided the Cordelia cruise and arrested Aryan Khan. According to NCB officials, Singh was terminated in connection with another case in which he was placed under suspension in April 2022 and an inquiry was ordered. After taking into consideration the inquiry report’s findings, Singh was dismissed, officials said.
Singh also led a team of officers to Shah Rukh Khan’s residence Mannat in connection with the probe.
Surjitt Sahani
