The former Narcotics Control Bureau officer, Sameer Wankhede, accused of allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore to not frame Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case, on Saturday, claimed he was being punished for being a patriot. Wankhede's statement came in after the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) raids at his residence and other premises on Friday. He claimed that 18 CBI officials on Friday raided his house while his wife and children were present there.
"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 said, as quoted by ANI.
ALSO READ | 'If We Don't Act Even After 4.5 Yrs...': Pilot's Message For CM Gehlot After Cong Win In K'taka
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked Wankhede and others for alleged criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and threat of extortion (388 IPC) besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Wankhede further stated that the CBI officials took his wife, Kranti Redkar’s phone. Aside from this, the CBI recovered Rs 28,000 from his sister, Yasmin Wankhede’s house and Rs 28,000 from his father Dnyaneshwar Wankhede's house. The CBI also recovered Rs 18,00 from his father-in-law’s house, ANI reported
The CBI on Friday conducted searches at 29 locations across the country following the alleged corruption case against him and three others linked to the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case, as per ANI's report. The investigation agency registered a case against the former Mumbai NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede and three others in connection with a corruption case related to the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case.
Aryan Khan was arrested in the alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021.
A coordinated search operation was launched on Friday at 29 locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Lucknow, Guwahati, and Chennai after the registration of an FIR against the 2008-batch IRS officer Wankhede and four others – then NCB Superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, Intelligence Officer Ashish Ranjan and two private persons K P Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza – in the case, as per the report.
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.