Some of the persons accused in the drugs-on-cruise case have told the Narcotics Control Bureau that they started consuming drugs to overcome depression as well as academic and work pressure.
The tenure of Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede with the Narcotics Control Bureau, which was marked by controversy, would end on December 31, official sources said on Friday.
The tenure of controversial Narcotics Control Bureau Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede with the federal anti-narcotics agency has ended and his services have been put at the disposal of his parent organisation Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, officials said on Monday.
The four-five member team, led by NCB's Deputy Director General (northern region) Gyaneshwar Singh, is also likely to visit a few other places and will also record the statement of Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the case.
Dadlani arrived at the anti-drug agency's office carrying an envelope in her hand.
The NCB said all the allegations levelled against the agency in connection with the cruise ship raid and alleged recovery of drugs, in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested, are 'baseless, motivated afterthoughts and prejudicial'.
"The chats recovered from Aryan Khan's mobile phone reveal that in the year 2018-19, she helped supply drugs to Aryan thrice by providing him the numbers of drug dealers," NCB sources told ANI.
The officer entered the NCB office in the R K Puram area through a back entry gate and is understood to have met his senior officers.
'In a joint operation carefully planned by the NCB and the Indian Navy in the high seas, NCB officials have successfully seized around 529 kg of very high quality of hashish, 234 kg of finest quality of crystal methamphetamine and some quantity of heroin,' the anti-drug agency said in a release.
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday sought to know why the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was saving Kashif Khan, one of the organisers of the cruise party where the NCB conducted a raid last month, and what was his relationship with the anti-drugs agency officer Sameer Wankhede.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Aryan Khan, termed the NCB's contention as 'inherently absurd' and argued that when there was no recovery of drugs from him, then he should not be penalised at the stage of granting bail.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) reached Mumbai on Saturday, a day after the agency transferred investigation in six cases, including the controversial cruise drugs case in which Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested, to it.
Pithani was Rajput's friend and was also staying with the late actor at his Bandra residence in suburban Mumbai, he said.
The NCB also found some documents and some material, suspected to be drugs, after an over six-hour-long search onboard the ship, the official said, without divulging any further details.
Rooted in Tamil Nadu, Mali's love story brought him to South Africa, where he started playing again, though his journey was short-lived.
With this, the anti-drugs agency has so far arrested 17 people in the case, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, and some "high-profile organisers" belonging to a Delhi-based event management company.
Prabhakar Sail, who claims to be the bodyguard of NCB witness KP Gosavi, last month alleged in an affidavit that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal after Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB.
On legal front, Wankhede, who the NCB asserted has an impeccable service record, failed to get any relief related to an affidavit on the sensational extortion claims made by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, with a special court saying it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognisance of the document.
A bench of Chief Justice Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian will hear the plea on March 18.
The Narcotics Control Bureau's special investigation team has found "grave irregularities" and gaps in the probe of the Mumbai drugs-on-cruise case, with officials saying its first team that arrested Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan did not follow rules like mandatory medical test of accused, video recording of the raids and corroborate evidence for WhatsApp chats.
The NCB has arrested a Goa-based man who allegedly had links with the accused in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, an NCB official said on Monday.
The NCB has so far arrested 16 people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, 23, in the drug seizure case.
A special team of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), probing allegations of extortion in the drugs-on-cruise case in which Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is one of the accused, left for Delhi on Saturday without recording the statement of witness Prabhakar Sail, who had raised serious charges against Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede and others, an official said.
'NCB is eager to prove its relevance.' 'But picking on Shah Rukh Khan's son seems as if he is being made the poster boy of the NCB's relevance.'
Launching a scathing attack on Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik on Thursday dubbed the officer as 'bogus' and asserted that once 'proof' against him is out, he can not remain in government service for even one day.
The NCB, which got the remand of Aryan Khan and the other eight accused from the court till Thursday, also claimed that in the WhatsApp chats he is discussing modes of payment to be done for procurement (of drugs) and that several code names are being used.
Dominic Xavier wonders what the end game in the NCB's starstruck probe will be.
Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the cruise drugs seizure case, on Sunday claimed that a Narcotics Control Bureau officer and some other persons demanded Rs 25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan Khan in the case.
Ananya Panday has been again called by the NCB on Monday, a senior NCB official said.
The NCB personnel late Saturday night carried out multiple raids in Mumbai's suburbs, including Goregaon. They also arrested one more person, identified as Shivraj Ramdas, from Santacruz area on Friday night in connection with the case of drugs seizure, the official said.
As the NCB team reached Bhagat Singh Nagar locality in Goregaon, around 50 people, including women, gathered there and later attacked members of the central anti-narcotics agency, the official said.
Sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau visited the residence of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Thursday for seeking certain material related to their investigation into a cruise drugs party case in which the actor's son is an accused, a senior NCB official said.
"Mobile phones of Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh, Karishma Prakash, Simone Khambatta and Jaya Shah have been seized," an NCB official said.
The anti-drugs agency had earlier arrested nine people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, after raiding the Goa-bound ship on Saturday.
There was heavy police deployment outside the NCB office, where barricades were put up.
"I have nothing to do with drugs. I have prescription for the medicine which was found at my residence and the prescription has been handed over to NCB officials," Rampal told reporters.
The NCB claimed that 'incriminating' evidence comprising of digital evidence, call record details, WhatsApp chats, location tags, video and voice recordings, and several other documents had been submitted.
Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil on Monday said police protection has been given to Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise case who has claimed Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and other persons to let off Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the case.
Ananya's father Chunky Panday accompanied her to the NCB office located at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai, where they reached around 4 pm.
Rakul, 29, was seen entering the NCB guest house in Colaba around 10.30 am and left after four hours.