Mumbai: Sameer Wankhede appears before CBI in cruise drug bust bribery case; says ‘Satyamev Jayate’ to media

PTI, May 20, 2023, 11:16 AM IST

Former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Saturday appeared before the CBI here for questioning in a case in which he is accused of demanding Rs 25 crore bribe from superstar Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise ‘drug bust’ case, an official said.

Wankhede reached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) around 10.15 am, he said. Talking to media persons while entering the agency office, he just said ”Satyamev Jayate” (truth alone triumphs).

The CBI had summoned the former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official for questioning on Thursday in connection with the case, but he did not appear that day. The central agency booked Wankhede and four others on May 11 for alleged criminal conspiracy and threat of extortion, besides under provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint by the NCB.

On Friday, the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the FIR. The high court then directed the CBI not to take any ”coercive action”, such as arrest, against Wankhede till May 22. Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021, following the alleged drug seizure on board the Cordelia cruise ship here. He was granted bail by the high court three weeks later as the anti-drugs agency failed to substantiate its charges against him.

The CBI alleged that the NCB’s Mumbai zone had received information in October 2021 regarding the consumption and possession of narcotic substances by various individuals on the cruise ship, and some NCB officers conspired to get bribes from the accused in return for letting them off.