Sameer Wankhede, zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai on Sunday, 24 October, wrote to the Mumbai Police commissioner seeking protection from "precipitate legal action against him", fearing that he may be "framed" with "ulterior motives".
It comes on the same day an "independent witness" in Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan's case filed an affidavit alleging that Wankhede and NCB took their signatures on blank papers.
Wankhede wrote in his letter, "Hence, you are requested to kindly ensure that no such precipitate legal action is carried out to frame the undersigned falsely with ulterior motives."
Wankhede's statement comes after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik asserted that the senior NCB officer would lose his job within a year, saying, "They (BJP) have a puppet – Wankhede. He raises bogus cases against people. I challenge that Wankhede that he'll lose his job within a year... We have evidence of bogus cases," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
Wankhede is the officer leading the investigation in the Mumbai drugs case. Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchantt, Munmun Dhamecha, and others were arrested by the NCB during a raid on a cruise ship.
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.
Sail also claims to have received two bags of cash containing Rs 38 lakh, following Gosavi's instructions, which he handed to Sam D'Souza.
Later in the day, ANI quoted Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil as stating that police protection has been provided to Sail, as demanded by him.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut tweeted a video of Aryan Khan and Gosavi, saying, "Witness in Aryan Khan's case made to sign on blank paper by NCB is shocking."
He added that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that these cases are made to defame Maharashtra, and now, "these seem to be coming true. Police should take suo moto cognizance."
Meanwhile, Wankhede has denied the allegations and has said he will give a ‘fitting reply’.
Aryan Khan has been denied bail thrice, despite of no drugs being found on him.
A NDPS court denied bail on grounds of him knowing others travelling with him carrying drugs and that this amounted to “conscious possession”. NCB has claimed that his WhatsApp chats indicate he was in touch with an international cartel carrying on the drugs trade.
(With inputs from NDTV and ANI.)
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