After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided his home and other locations on Friday, Sameer Wankhede of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), who oversaw the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) when Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was apprehended in a drugs case, argued he was being punished for being a patriot.
He is accused of demanding payment of 25 crores, of which reportedly 50 lakhs were collected, in exchange for not implicating Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. He and three other individuals have been arrested by the CBI in connection with a corruption investigation involving the narcotics case.
“They found ₹23,000 and four property papers. These assets were acquired before I joined the service. I am getting rewarded for being a patriot,” he remarked. The 2008 batch IRS official added that while his wife and kids were there, his house was searched for more than 12 hours. He also informed that his wife’s phone was also confiscated. His wife is Marathi actor Kranti Redkar.
The CBI discovered 28,000 at the homes of his sister Yasmin Wankhede and his father Dnyaneshwar Wankhede. Additionally, 1800 rupees were found at his father-in-law’s place.
The CBI has filed an FIR against him along with NCB Superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, Intelligence Officer Ashish Ranjan and two private persons K P Gosavi and Sanvile D’Souza in this case. Raids were also conducted on Friday at 29 locations including in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Lucknow, Guwahati and Chennai.
A CBI spokesperson informed, “It has been alleged that the said officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau of Mumbai Zone, in order to obtain undue advantage from the persons and others in the case No. 94/2021 registered and investigated under the supervision of then Zonal Director of Mumbai Zone of NCB, had entered into a criminal conspiracy with others and allegedly obtained an undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused.”
Drugs-on-cruise case
On October 2, 2021, Sameer Wankhede conducted a search on the Cordelia cruise ship and captured many people on suspicion of cocaine possession, including Aryan Khan who was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28, 2021, after spending 25 days in jail. On May 27, 2022, his name was, however, cleared by the NCB in its 6,000-page chargesheet which was registered against 14 accused from 2021 because there was inadequate proof that the former was carrying drugs.
