NEW DELHI, May 12: A corruption case has been filed against the drugs-on-cruise case famed anti-narcotics officer Sameer Wankhede by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI on Friday filed the case against the then Mumbai zonal chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) who had arrested Aryan Khan, the son of the Bollywood film star Shah Rukh Khan, which has come to be known as the drugs-on-cruise case, two years ago.
Aryan Khan with a few others was arrested allegedly for carrying drugs in a cruise from Mumbai to Goa. The cruise was cancelled after the NCB raid and Aryan was released after spending about a month in jail.
Wankhede and others had allegedly demanded ₹ 25 crore bribe for not framing Aryan Khan in the alleged drug bust, said officials. The premier investigating agency conducted searches across Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi and Kanpur.
Wankhede was the Mumbai zonal chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau when he and others raided the cruise ship off the city’s coast in 2021. Aryan Khan was cleared of all charges by the anti-drugs agency in May 2022 due to “lack of sufficient evidence.”
Earlier, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the anti-drugs agency claimed the probe led by Wankhede had lapses. Wankhede was transferred to the Directorate General of Taxpayer Services in Chennai in May last year.
(Manas Dasgupta)
