Kiran Gosavi, an 'independent witness' of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case who is absconding, on Monday refuted the extortion claims made by his aide and another witness in the case, Prabhakar Sail, and said he will surrender shortly before the Lucknow police.
In a suit filed before a civil court in suburban Borivali last month, Wankhede and his wife, actor Kranti Redkar, have sought a permanent injunction against Google India, Facebook India online services and Twitter Communications India on allowing any 'defamatory' post against them on their platforms.
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has overturned the transfer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer Wankhede from Mumbai to Chennai, ruling that the revenue department violated its own guidelines. Wankhede, known for his role in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case involving Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, had claimed his transfer was punitive and a consequence of his actions at the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The CAT found procedural lapses and potential bias in the transfer decision, stating that transfer policies must be implemented fairly and transparently.
NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede told PTI that Firoz Nadiadwala was summoned by the anti-drugs agency earlier in the day, but he failed to appear.
The NCB and Wankhede had earlier in the day filed two separate affidavits before the special court against the allegations of extortion attempt levelled against them.
Wankhede claimed the threat of jail and dismissal have been issued against him in public.
The timeline of the 'drugs on cruise' case in which Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was given a clean chit by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday.
The anti-drug agency's SIT on Sunday asked Aryan Khan to appear before it the same day, the NCB official said.
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.
'The decision to arrest Aryan Khan was a consensual decision, not a one-man command.'
NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede should be suspended following the court's findings, he said.
Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede is trying to show the alleged messages exchanged with film superstar Shah Rukh Khan as certificate of integrity, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Bombay high court on Monday during a hearing of a petition of the official who is accused of seeking Rs 25 crore as bribe from the actor for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case.
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.
There was heavy police deployment outside the NCB office, where barricades were put up.
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.
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.
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 minister, however, henceforth, must make statements against Wankhede or his family only after "reasonable verification of facts," the HC said.
Wankhede, a 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking protection from any coercive action by the anti-money laundering agency.
Dnyandev Wankhede, father of NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede, on Wednesday approached the Bombay High Court challenging its single-judge bench order that had refused to restrain Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik from making comments and putting social media posts against the anti-drug agency officer and his family.
The NCB searched Singh's house and office in the morning as part of its probe into alleged drug use in the Hindi film industry.
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.
Wankhede, whose interim protection from arrest in the Central Bureau of Investigation's case of extortion and bribery against him was on Thursday extended by the HC till June 23, in his rejoinder affidavit claimed the SET has 'twisted facts and labelled false allegations to jeopardise the career and character of honest officials'.
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.
The PIL has also sought a direction to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to frame the national witness protection scheme as recommended in various reports of the Law Commission.
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 order says that Wankhede belongs to Mahar caste, which is a Scheduled Caste (SC).
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted searches at the premises of former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede after filing an FIR against him and four others for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case, officials said.
The Bombay high court on Monday said no coercive steps shall be taken against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede till April 10 on notices issued to him on the NCB's preliminary inquiry over irregularities in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
The agency had called him a hostile witness after he made the allegations.
Dnyandev Wankhede, Sameer's father, has sought damages of Rs 1.25 crore from Malik and an order restraining him from making further false or incorrect statements against the Wankhede family.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik on Saturday claimed that the Narcotics Control Bureau had initially detained 11 persons from a Goa-bound cruise ship off the Mumbai coast last week, but let off three of them, including Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mohit Bharatiya's brother-in-law a couple of hours later.
The petition, filed through advocate Rizwan Merchant, claimed that after concluding the investigation in the case, a draft complaint was prepared by the department legal advisor, where charges were proposed against Aryan Khan among others.
The government has asked the finance ministry to take action against former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede for his alleged "shoddy work" while probing a 'drugs-on-cruise' case in which film star Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan was arrested last year, official sources said.
The Narcotics Control Bureau on Tuesday claimed to have busted the "biggest" darknet-based LSD cartel operating in India with the seizure of more than 13,000 blots and Rs 26 lakh in cash and the arrest of three persons.
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 wife of under-fire NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Tuesday came out in strong support of her husband and said they were getting threat calls, facing vicious trolling online and living in fear as she rejected allegations levelled against him by Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has made it clear that it will not campaign for ally Nationalist Congress Party's candidate Nawab Malik in the assembly polls due to his alleged links with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, but has no objection to his daughter's candidature.
Besides Aryan Khan, the arrested accused are identified as Munmun Dhamecha, Arbaaz Merchant, Ismeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Gomit Chopra, Nupur Sarika, and Vikrant Chhokar.
"There is no evidence of consumption, no recovery of drugs and absolutely no evidence to show his participation in this so-called conspiracy and abetment as alleged by the NCB," Rohatgi said while arguing for Aryan Khan's bail.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances