Sameer Wankhede, Officer Involved in Aryan Khan Case, Booked for Corruption; CBI Raids His Residence

The CBI has registered a corruption case against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede who was leading the investigation in a case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.

Searches are underway at his residence in Andheri and other premises in Mumbai. As many as 29 locations are being raided by CBI across Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi and Kanpur.

As the head of NCB Mumbai zone in 2021, Wankhede was embroiled in controversy after the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan.

The CBI registered a case against Wankhede and four others after a report by the NCB vigilance. Two officials from Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have been named in the case.

Sources said a demand was made of Rs 25 crore and Rs 50 lakh was accepted during the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case.

Wankhede was accused by one of NCB’s independent witnesses of taking Rs 8 crore as a bribe in the high-profile drugs-on-cruise case. On October 27, 2021, Mumbai Police appointed an ACP-level officer to investigate the allegations levelled against Wankhede. He was eventually transferred to the Director General of Taxpayers’ Services (DGTS) in Chennai because of a “shoddy” investigation in connection with the case.

What Was Case Against Aryan Khan?

On October 2, 2021, Aryan Khan and several others were arrested by the NCB on charges of drug possession, consumption, and trafficking that stemmed from raids held in Cordelia Cruiship at Mumbai’s International Cruise Terminal.

Aryan Khan was granted bail on October 28, 2021, by the Bombay High Court after it rejected NCB’s claims of a larger drug conspiracy on grounds of insufficient evidence.

Aryan Khan and five others were not named in the chargesheet filed by the agency in May 2022 due to insufficient evidence.

According to reports, the NCB formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by deputy director general Sanjay Kumar Singh to reinvestigate the raids. The SIT found several irregularities in the raid and did not find evidence to suggest that Aryan Khan was involved in a larger drugs conspiracy or an international drugs trafficking syndicate.