A witness in the cruise ship drugs case has made grave allegations of bribery and wrongdoing against Sameer Wankhede, Mumbai Zonal Director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), adding a new twist to the incident that has made national news following the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, Aryan Khan.
Mumbai resident Prabhakar Sail (40), who made the allegation of pay-off, is the personal bodyguard of independent witness KP Gosavi, a private detective based in Kuala Lumpur, whose photo with Aryan went viral recently.
A signed affidavit of Sail and a video statement pertaining to the October 2-3 raids on cruise ship Cordelia, which led to the arrest of Aryan and 19 others, and the sequence of events was released on social media platforms.
The allegations were denied by the NCB, with Wankhede writing to the Mumbai Police seeking protection from action on "false charges".
Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut termed the claims of a witness being made to sign blank papers "shocking", while Maharashtra minister and NCP spokesman Nawab Malik demanded a special investigation team probe into the matter.
One of the 9 witnesses listed by the NCB, Sail claimed that he was made to sign 10 blank papers by the agency and now feared for his life.
In his affidavit, Sail alleged that he “overheard” Gosavi and a man named Sam D’Souza discuss a deal of Rs 24 crore and settling for Rs 18 crore, of which Rs 8 crore would go to Wankhede.
He claimed that he saw SRK’s manager Pooja Dadlani arrive at the NCB office after Aryan's arrest and also saw her talking with Gosavi and D’Souza inside her vehicle.
Sail claimed that Gosavi directed him to collect Rs 50 lakh from a spot near Indiana Hotel and asked him to give the bags to D’Souza near Trident Hotel, where he discovered that it contained Rs 38 lakh.
“I say that KP Gosavi is missing now and I now fear that NCB officials and other persons involved may kill me or abduct me like KP Gosavi. As seen in big cases witnesses often are killed and taken away and therefore I want to state the truth,” his affidavit states.
'Decriminalise small amount of drugs'
The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has recommended decriminalising possession of small quantities of drugs for personal consumption in its review of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act submitted to the Revenue Department.
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