Mumbai: Sameer Wankhede, former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director, who is accused of corruption in the 2021 Cordelia cruise ship “drug bust” investigation, Friday moved a petition in the Bombay High Court attaching purported WhatsApp chats with actor Shah Rukh Khan, whose son Aryan Khan was arrested but later given a clean chit in the case.
According to the the petition — a copy of which ThePrint has seen — Khan repeatedly “urged” Wankhede to go easy on Aryan. He has presented the chats in a bid to contest allegations that he attempted to extort money from Aryan’s family in the case.
Wankhede moved the HC seeking quashing of the CBI FIR registered against him earlier this month, where he has been accused of demanding a bribe to “settle the case”. In the petition, Wankhede has claimed that the CBI action is “out of revenge”.
Directing the authorities not to take any coercive action against Wankhede till the hearing of the case, the HC asked him to appear before the CBI Saturday. The HC listed the matter for hearing on 22 May.
On 2 October 2021, a NCB team led by Wankhede carried out a raid on a Cordelia cruise ship at the International Cruise Terminal at Green Gate, Mumbai. The NCB arrested Aryan Khan the next day on allegations pertaining to drug procurement and consumption. On 28 October, Aryan was granted bail by the Bombay High Court as the NCB failed to substantiate its charges against him. The NCB gave Aryan a clean chit last year.
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The alleged WhatsApp chats
According to the purported chats — dated between 3 and 15 October 2021 — attached with the petition, the Bollywood actor said that he was making a “father to father request” to Wankhede to show “some kindness” towards his son by not putting him in jail.
“Get your guys to go slow for Gods sake. I swear I will stand by you at all times to come and assist you with what all you are trying to achieve good,” a message goes. “It’s a man’s promise… I beg you to please have mercy on me and my family. We are a simple set of people and my son has been a bit wayward, but he doesn’t deserve being in a jail like a hardened criminal… Please have a heart man, please I beg you.”
“Please call me and I will talk to you in my capacity as a father. Not any other way and you can hear from me that I mean every word I have said,” the purported chat says.
“You are a gentleman and a good husband and I am the same… I beg you man please don’t let him in jail. These holidays will come and he will break as a human being. His spirt will be destroyed because of some vested people,” it adds.
To this, Wankhede replied, “Shahrukh (sic), I know you as a fine human being. Let’s hope for the best. Take care.”
According to the chats mentioned in the petition, Wankhede told the actor to have some patience as things will get over soon.
Submitting these “WhatsApp chats”, Wankhede told the court that he did not extort any money from the actor. Had that been the case, he added, SRK’s tone in the messages would be different.
Requests cross-FIR against NCB DDG
In his petition, Wankhede has alleged that he carried out the investigation in the drug bust case under the “specific orders of his superiors in NCB who included Gyaneshwar Singh as well”.
He has said that his actions were known to NCB superiors, including deputy director generals (DDG) Mutha Ashok Jain, Sanjay Singh and Gyaneshwar Singh.
The CBI FIR also names two other NCB officers — S.P. Vishwa Vijay Singh and Ashish Ranjan — along with independent witness Kiran Gosavi, who was also present at the raid.
In the petition, he alleges that every action taken in the Aryan Khan case was with specific prior approval and guidance of Gyaneshwar Singh and his superiors. However, because of media hysteria and political controversy, the NCB set up a special team to enquire about Wankhede and his subordinates, and made Gyaneshwar Singh as its head.
He claims that “Gyaneshwar Singh is acting out of grave malice, vendetta, selfish motives to cover his own tracks” and has been harassing him ever since he (Wankhede) left the NCB on 3 January 2022.
In the petition, Wankhede has requested the Bombay High court to quash the CBI FIR against him and instead sought a cross-FIR against NCB DDG Gyaneshwar Singh.
ThePrint has reached Gyaneshwar Singh for a comment by text. This report will be updated when a response is received.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)