Vigilance Report Against Officer Who Arrested Aryan Khan Points To Corruption

Mumbai: Sameer Wankhede, the former anti-drugs official who arrested Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, in a drugs case, had made multiple trips abroad with his family and owned vast property disproportionate to his income, says a report filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau or NCB.

The Central Bureau of Investigation — which is investigating him — based their First Information Report on this report, a copy of which has been accessed by NDTV. The agency has accused Sameer Wankhede and a few others of demanding a Rs 25 crore bribe from Shah Rukh Khan’s family, threatening they would otherwise frame Aryan Khan in the alleged drug bust.

The report by the NCB’s vigilance department indicates that the names of Aryan Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant were added at the last moment and the name of some other suspects were dropped. During the raid, despite the recovery of rolling paper from a suspect, she was allowed to go, the report says.

A series of lapses in the custody of Aryan Khan indicates that it was intentionally compromised by Sameer Wankhede to give an opportunity to Kiran Gosavi, the independent witness in the Mumbai cruise raid, for misconduct and violation of Central Civil Services laws.

The CCTV footage of the NCB office collected by a probe team, had gone corrupt. The DVR and hard copy of the night when Aryan Khan was brought to the NCB office that were submitted by the Mumbai team of the NCB were different, the report says.

The report also mentions that in five years — from 2017 to 2021 — Sameer Wankhede made six trips abroad with his family. The list of nations included UK, Ireland, Portugal, South Africa and Maldives, where he stayed for 55 days.

But he has claimed that he spent only 8.75 lakh, which barely covers the cost of air travel.

The report also mentions a series of expensive watches and other property of Sameer Wankhede that are disproportionate to his known sources of income. This includes a Rolex watch that was apparently sold to him at a price far lower than MRP — 17 lakh, down from 22 lakh.  

He also owns four flats in Mumbai and 416,88 acre land in Washim.

In his communications to the agency, Sameer Wankhede has claimed he spent Rs 82.8 lakh on a fifth flat in Goregaon valued at Rs 2.45 crore.

There is also mention of a flat purchased by him and his wife before their marriage for Rs 1.25 crore. The source of this money remains a mystery.

The Income Tax returns of Mr Wankhede and his wife show their annual income is 45,61,460, which does not explain how they have funded their foreign trips and other assets.