On Friday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches at former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede’s premises. This was after an FIR was filed against him and four others, accusing them of seeking a bribe of Rs 25 crore to not frame Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, in the drugs-on-cruise case. Aryan Khan was arrested in this case on the Cordelia cruise ship in October 2021.
The NCB had filed a charge sheet in the drugs-on-cruise case, giving Aryan Khan a clean chit. However, an SIT set up by the anti-drugs agency had claimed that the probe led by Wankhede had lapses. The searches were conducted across 29 locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, and Kanpur.
According to officials, Wankhede and his accomplices allegedly demanded the bribe for not framing Aryan Khan in the drug bust. They received information that Rs 50 lakh was collected as an advance. Wankhede, an IRS officer who was the head of the Narcotics Control Bureau in Mumbai at the time of Aryan Khan’s arrest, was transferred to the Directorate General of Taxpayer Services in Chennai in May last year.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the CBI investigation will be, but this incident has raised concerns about corruption in India’s law enforcement agencies. As actor Farhan Akhtar tweeted, “The truth must come out and those found guilty must be punished.”
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