In an intersting development concerning the Cordelia cruise drug raid case, Kiran Gosavi, a panch witness during the seizure of the case, told the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) Special Investigation Team (SIT) that he had clicked the selfie with Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan to show his friends, as per a report in The Indian Express.
The infamous photograph of Kiran Gosavi with Khan Junior went viral while Aryan was being detained by the NCB, raising questions on the irregularities in the probe carried out by the investigation agency. Another video, where Gosavi is seen holding a phone and Aryan Khan speaking into it, had also created widespread controversies.
Gosavi reportedly told the SIT that he had called one of his friends who had requested to hear Aryan Khan’s voice. He also claimed that the photo which he clicked with Aryan Khan was just to show his friends.
“Aryan Khan was searched but no drug was found on him. However, drug-related chats were found on his phone. I thought Aryan Khan was a celebrity and no drug was found from him, he was made to sit separately to avoid crowds gathering around him. I took a selfie with him to show it to my friends,” IE quoted Gosavi as saying in his statement.
Aryan Khan, who was nabbed during the Cordelia cruise raids on October 2 last year and spent 22 days in jail, was given clean chit by the agency last week due to "lack of sufficient evidence".
Gosavi was accused of extorting money from Aryan Khan's family by his bodyguard Prabhakar Sail.
Prabhakar Sail, now deceased, had alleged that he overheard K P Gosavi, his employer, speaking over phone with a person, named Sam D'souza, about a deal to finally settle the matter at Rs 18 crore and out of this, Rs 8 crore had to be paid to Sameer Wankhede, the then Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director.
Sail, 40, died in April and the police said the cause of his death was heart attack. The agency had called him a hostile witness after he made the allegations.
Sail claimed that on October 3, 2021 he saw Gosavi meeting Shah Rukh Khan's manager Pooja Dadlani along with Sam and that they had a short meeting in her blue Mercedes car parked in the Lower Parel area of Mumbai. He stated in his affidavit that he collected two bags which he later found had Rs 38 lakh in cash.
(With agency inputs)
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