Big revelations against Sameer Wankhede in drug case ahead of urgent hearing in court today

According to a petition filed by Wankhede in the Delhi High Court and accessed by News 18, Wankhede said he had kept his seniors in loop about the arrest of Aryan Khan in October 2021. He even attached WhatsApp chats with his seniors, that allegedly show that they all appreciated him and were kept in the loop about Aryan's arrest.

While Wankhede defended himself against charges of corruption and extortion in the Aryan Khan drug case, a report by the Special Enquiry Team (SET) red-flagged the "last-minute changes" in the information note, and several lapses and irregularities in the operation on the cruise ship conducted under the "monitoring" of Wankhede.

Allegation 1: Wankhede and his juniors did not follow the rules while handling the drug case. It also revealed that the names of Aryan Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant were added last-minute, while the names of some other suspects were dropped from the original information note.

Allegation 2: Neither were the phones of the suspects seized with the ‘panchnama’ nor was there a separate seizure memo. 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.

Allegation 3: Valuables, as well as those of other suspects, were taken away by NCB Mumbai officers without documentation.

Allegation 4: Despite accused Arbaaz Merchant revealing that one Siddarth Shah was the supplier of ‘charas’, the NCB let him walk free. The agency examined Shah. But he was allowed to go despite the SET later finding that his chats on both WhatsApp and Telegram clearly showed that he was consuming drugs. The NCB’s clean chit to Shah is now being questioned.

Allegation 5. 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.

Allegation 6: The NCB Mumbai team collected the CCTV equipment of the NCB office to verify the facts. However, 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.

Allegation 7: The SET report also raised questions on Wankhede’s foreign trips and expenditure on his luxury watches.

> In around five years (2017 to 2021,) Wankhede made six private foreign visits with family to countries like UK, Ireland, Portugal, South Africa and Maldives. These trips spanned over 55 days, with a declared amount of only Rs 8.75 lakh, which is barely enough to cover the cost of air travel.

> Wankhede had allegedly purchased luxurious Rolex Gold watch worth Rs 22,05,000 for only Rs 17,40,000 on credit from his friend Viral Jamaluddin. The SET probe revealed 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.

A raid was conducted by the NCB on the Cordelia cruise off the Mumbai coast in October 2021. Aryan Khan and his friends Arbaaz Merchant and model Munmun Dhamecha were among 20 people who were arrested following the raid.

Aryan Khan, who was formally arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28 after he had spent 25 days in jail. But his name was not included in the list of accused in the NCB charge sheet for lack of evidence.

Later, Wankhede was accused of corruption and extortion in the same drug case. The CBI had filed an FIR against Wankhede and his two former juniors of NCB Mumbai zone based on the SET report, details of which were mentioned above.

The former NCB was called for questioning on Thursday, but he approached the Delhi High Court and got interim relief from any coercive action by the agency. The Delhi High Court had also asked him to move Bombay High Court because the case pertains to its jurisdiction. This protection is till May 22.