Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede has reacted to the CBI raids at his residence, stating that he was being punished for being a patriot.
Wankhede is being accused of allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 25 crore for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. Aryan Khan was arrested in the alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021.
The CBI raided Wankede's residence and other premises on Friday. "I am getting rewarded for being a patriot, yesterday 18 CBI officials raided my residence and searched it for more than 12 hours while my wife and children were present in the house. They found Rs 23,000 and four property papers. These assets were acquired before I joined the service," Wankhede was quoted by ANI.
He added that the CBI officials also took the phone of his wife Kranti Redkar. They also recovered Rs 28,000 from his sister Yasmin Wankhede's house and Rs 28,000 from his father Dnyaneshwar Wankhede's house. They also found Rs 1,800 from the residence of Wankhede's father-in-law.
This came as the CBI filed an FIR against former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case, officials said on Friday.
Raids were also conducted on Friday at 29 locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Lucknow, Guwahati and Chennai. Besides Wankhede, FIRs have also been filed against NCB Superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, Intelligence Officer Ashish Ranjan and two private persons K P Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza.
"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 criminal conspiracy with others and allegedly obtained undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused...", a CBI spokesperson said.
Aryan Khan, who was formally arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on October 28, 2021 after spending 25 days in jail. The NCB on May 27, 2022 also filed a 6,000-page charge sheet against 14 accused, giving a clean chit to Aryan Khan.