The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that KP Gosavi, an independent witness, tried to extort Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan's family in relation to the drugs-on-cruise case of October 2021, which involved arrest of Khan's son Aryan Khan.
An FIR filed by CBI against former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede and others, made public on Monday, 15 May, alleged that independent witness KP Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail (now deceased) were involved by the NCB in the Cordelia cruise ship drug raid on 2 October 2021, on the directions of Wankhede, reported news agency PTI.
Some Context: Actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, Aryan Khan, along with several others, was arrested by the NCB from Mumbai's Cordelia cruise on 8 October 2021.
He was given a clean chit in the case on 27 May.
What Does the FIR Say?
Gosavi, his aide Sanvile D'Souza, and others had entered into the conspiracy to "extort an amount" of Rs 25 crore from the family members of Aryan Khan by "threatening them of the accusation of offences of possession of Narcotics substances," the FIR alleges.
However, the amount was negotiated and brought down to Rs 18 crore. Moreover, Gosavi and D'Souza even collected a token of Rs 50 lakh and returned a part of the amount later.
It further claims that Wankhede had directed then-NCB Superintendent VV Singh to let Gosavi "handle the accused" while taking him to the NCB Office, thereby "allowing a freehand" to him and others in order to create a visual impression that Gosavi had the custody of the accused.
"It appeared that the presence of the independent witness Gosavi around accused persons was created intentionally in such a manner so as to give an impression that Gosavi was an NCB personnel even though there were NCB personnel to handle the custody of the accused persons," the FIR read.
This position "allowed" Gosavi and D'Souza to enter in the "conspiracy" with others to allegedly demand the bribe from Shah Rukh Khan, the FIR stated.
Police Action: Wankhede and four others – Vishwa Vijay Singh, Intelligence Officer Ashish Ranjan, and two private persons, K P Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza – have been booked by the CBI for alleged criminal conspiracy (120B IPC) and threat of extortion (388 IPC) as well as provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988, on a complaint from the NCB, PTI reported.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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