Ex-NCB Officer Wankhede Claims Threats To Him And His Wife, Says Will Demand 'Special Security' From Police

Former NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede said he will write to Mumbai Police Commissioner to provide him and his wife Kranti Redkar special security as they are receiving threats on social media.

Former NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede said on Monday he will write to Mumbai Police Commissioner to provide him and his wife Kranti Redkar special security as they have been receiving threats for the last four days. He also claimed that his family has been getting obscene messages on social media. This has come while Wankhede is facing the CBI over allegations of extortion in the Aryan Khan case. Earlier, his purported chats with actor Shahrukh Khan went viral earlier, in which Khan allegedly pleaded with him to show mercy on his son Aryan Khan after his arrest in the Cordelia drugs bust case.

“My wife Kranti Redkar and I have been receiving threats for the last four days on social media. I will write to Mumbai Police Commissioner today about it and demand special security,” Wankhede said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

On being asked about the mention of threat on the lines of deceased UP mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed's killing, he said "I will discuss the matter with Commisioner sir."

CBI Quizzes Former Mumbai NCB Chief Sameer Wankhede

Meanwhile, the former Mumbai NCB chief was questioned for the second day for more than five hours on Sunday by the CBI, which is investigating an alleged Rs 25 crore bribe demand from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case, news agency PTI reported citing an official. 

Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, arrived at the CBI office in the Bandra-Kurla Complex at around 10.30 AM, the official said. Wankhede told reporters as he entered the office that he has "faith in the judiciary".

He was given a lunch break during questioning, according to the official, who added that Wankhede left the CBI office for the day around 4.30 PM. Wankhede did not respond to questions from reporters waiting outside the CBI office, instead said, "Satyamev Jayate" (truth always triumphs).

Wankhede was also questioned by the CBI for more than five hours on Saturday. Wankhede and his family members visited the Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi, Mumbai, after leaving the CBI office around 4.30 PM on Saturday.

On the basis of a complaint from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the CBI filed a chargesheet against Wankhede and four others on May 11 for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threats, as well as bribery provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Bombay High Court granted Wankhede relief on Friday, ordering the CBI not to take any "coercive action" against him until May 22.

Wankhede claimed in court that the "draft complaint" in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case named Aryan Khan as an accused, but it was later replaced and Aryan's name was dropped.

The NCB arrested Aryan Khan on October 3, 2021, following an alleged drug seizure on the Cordelia cruise ship here. Three weeks later, the high court granted him bail after the anti-drug agency failed to substantiate its charges against him.