Hours after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday, 25 October, reportedly ordered a vigilance probe on zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who is accused by a witness of asking for a bribe in order to release Aryan Khan, Wankhede, according to ANI, arrived in Delhi.
Wankhede, however, stated that he has not been summoned and is in fact in Delhi for a different purpose.
News agency ANI quoted him as saying:
"I have not been summoned. I've come here for a different purpose. Allegations against me are baseless."
Wankhede, who had been probing the Aryan Khan case, has, on his part, also alleged that he and his family are being targeted by a political leader.
The Probe Against Wankheade
According to ANI, a three-member team of the anti-drug agency will go from Delhi to Mumbai on Tuesday, 26 October, to probe the allegations of corruption levelled against the zonal director.
The team will comprise DDG NCB Gyaneshwar Singh and two inspector-level officers, ANI reported on Monday, quoting NCB sources.
As per NCB sources, the three-member team of the NCB will also look into all allegations made by Prabhakar Sail, who is a witness in the drugs-on-cruise case of Mumbai.
Gyaneshwar Singh told PTI, “We have received the affidavit and a report from our DDG (northwest) based in Mumbai and the NCB director general has taken cognisance of this report. He has marked it to the vigilance section for inquiry. We are a professional organisation and we are open for inquiry against any allegation against our staffers. The inquiry will be transparent and fair”.
What Has the Witness Claimed?
The independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, who claims to be a personal bodyguard to KP Gosavi, alleged that he overheard a conversation of a Rs 18 crore deal between Gosavi and one Sam D’Souza on 3 October.
KP Gosavi, who is currently absconding, is the alleged private investigator who was in the viral selfie with Aryan Khan after his arrest.
Sail stated in his affidavit that Gosavi said they will have to give Rs 8 crore to Wankhede, according to an NDTV report.
Furthermore, Sail has claimed that Gosavi, Sam D'Souza, and Pooja Dadlani, Shah Rukh Khan's manager, had a 15-minute meeting inside a car on the evening of the raid.
On Sunday, Sail had claimed that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official to let go off Aryan Khan in the Mumbai cruise case.
‘Personally Targeted’: Wankhede Files Affidavit in Court
Meanwhile, Wankhede has filed an affidavit in a special NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) court, saying that a known political figure is targeting him, while he faces a threat of arrest.
He has also asked the court to take cognizance and pass orders to protect the sanctity of the investigation in the Mumbai cruise case.
Wankhede has alleged in the affidavit that he has been personally targeted after spearheading the investigation in an NDPS case which resulted in the arrest of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan, who was later released on bail.
The affidavit by Wankhede reads, “From time to time there is a series of vendetta targeted at me and my family members who are victims of such defamatory attacks and false, frivolous and vexatious allegations", Live Law reported.
"My mother was Muslim... (why) does he want to bring my dead mother into this?" he asked, alluding to Malik, NDTV reported.
The Maharashtra minister, on Monday, had shared a purported document related to Wankhede's birth on Twitter, saying "The forgery of Sameer Dawood Wankhede began from here."
Wankhede has also asked the court to take “serious cognisance of such pressures extended on officers like us in a subjudice matter with malafide intent so that the truth does not come to light."
Wankhede's affidavit is annexed to NCB's application, which has sought that no action or cognizance be taken of Prabhakar Sail's affidavit without the Special NDPS court or any other court's permission.
'Impeccable Service Record': NCB Backs Wankhede
In an affidavit submitted before the court by the NCB, the agency, defending the zonal director, has stated Sameer Wankhede has an "impeccable service record."
Wankhede is "replete with honesty and integrity," the agency has said in its affidavit, as per NDTV, adding that Sail is a hostile witness.
(With inputs from ANI, LiveLaw, NDTV, and India Today.)
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