Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who is under the scanner of the agency amid allegations that he tried to extort Rs 25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s family to let off his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia Cruise Drugs Case, is in deeper trouble if the Special Enquiry Team (SET)’s report is to be believed.
CNN-News18 has accessed exclusive details of the SET report based on which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also filed an FIR against Wankhede and his two former juniors of NCB Mumbai zone.
According to the report, Wankhede and his juniors did not follow the rules while handling the drug bust case. It has also been revealed that the names of Aryan Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant were a last-minute addition while the names of some other suspects were dropped from the original information note.
The SET also observed from analysis of the ‘panchnama’ and other documents that neither were the phones of the suspects seized with the ‘panchnama’ nor was there a separate seizure memo. Thus, no formal documents were made for seizure of the phones. In the absence of a seizure memo, the chain of custody of the seized phone — which is a vital evidence — was affected.
Several witnesses examined by the SET stated that their valuables as well as those of other suspects were taken away by NCB Mumbai officers without documentation.
Another issue that could make things difficult for Wankhede is that despite accused Arbaaz Merchant revealing one Siddarth Shah as the supplier of ‘charas’ to him, the NCB let him walk free. The agency examined Shah and he was allowed to go despite the SET later finding that his phone chats on both WhatsApp and Telegram clearly showed he was consuming drugs. The NCB’s clean chit to Shah has now raised suspicions.
Another suspect Saumya Singh, whose name figured in the NCB’s information note, was also given the clean chit despite the officials recovering rolling papers from her bag. When the SET later contacted her and asked her to assist in the enquiry, she did not appear.
The SET also found major lapses in its Mumbai office when during the enquiry, the team collected the CCTV equipment of the NCB office to verify the facts but the footage was found to be corrupt. The DVR and the hard disc provided by the NCB Mumbai office were also different, hinting that it was crucial footage was intentionally not provided to the SET.
The report has also put a question mark on Wankhede’s foreign trips as well as expenditure on his luxury watches.
In a span of about five years from 2017 to 2021, Wankhede made six private foreign visits with family to countries like UK, Ireland, Portugal, South Africa and Maldives. The trips spanned over 55 days of foreign stay with a declared amount of only Rs 8.75 lakh, which is barely enough to cover the cost of air travel.
Further, the report said Wankhede and his friend Viral Jamaluddin stayed in Taj Exotica Maldives Beach suits with their families and maid in July 2021 on credit basis/cash payment (about Rs 7.5 lakh for Wankhede’s family). They paid the amount to the hotel only on 18.12.2021 through Jamaluddin’s credit card when the SET started the enquiry.
The SET has also questioned Wankhede’s purchase of a luxurious Rolex Gold watch worth Rs 22,05,000 for only Rs 17,40,000 on credit from Jamaluddin. The probe added that Wankhede could not explain the expenditures of his foreign tours and expensive watches. The investigation team has also raised several questions on Wankhede’s Mumbai and Washim properties and also analysed the income tax return documents of the ex-NCB zonal director and his wife, noting that further detailed enquiry is needed.
Based on this report, the CBI had filed an FIR against Wankhede and he was called for questioning but he approached the Delhi High Court and has got interim relief from any coercive action by the agency.
Now, it will be interesting to see how Wankhede handles himself on the other side of the questioning table.
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