Mumbai: The CBI probing allegations of corruption against Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede in the Cordelia drug bust case has said in the FIR that the names of suspects were inexplicably reduced from 27 to 10 by the investigators.

The CBI has raised suspicion over the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) preparing an internal “information note” in which “names of certain other accused” were later included “through modification to suit the proceedings”. The initial note had 27 names but subsequently after modification it was reduced to 10, the FIR said.

Questioning the allegedly arbitrary nature of the probe, the agency has also pointed out that the man who supplied drugs to a friend of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was not arrested despite him confessing to his role. The FIR said Wankhede and his team did not arrest Siddharth Shah, who admitted to supplying narcotics to Aryan’s friend Arbaaz Merchant. NCB had claimed to have recovered six grams of charas from Merchant during the raid.

The FIR said Wankhede had also made foreign trips and indulged in sale and purchase of expensive wrist watches through a private individual, Viral Rajan, without intimating the department.

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Mumbai: The CBI’s FIR in it probe into allegations of corruption against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in the Cordelia drug bust in 2021 suggests that the officer was living far beyond his known sources of income, seeking to link his wealth with his “dishonest” handling of the cruise liner case. Wankhede was western region head of NCB when he raided the cruise liner and arrested Aryan Khan and others in the drug case.

The FIR was based on a report by an NCB Special Enquiry Team (SET), which conducted an inquiry into allegations of “improper dishonest performance of duty by Wankhede and other officials. . . who obtained undue advantage from the persons/suspects in the cruise case”.

The report had said, “Further enquiries have also been done in the matters of allegations of criminal misconduct and corrupt practices of Sameer Wankhede and Ashish Ranjan independently, which could not sufficiently justify their acquired assets as per their declared income.”

The NCB also found that Wankhede had not adequately explained his foreign visits and had apparently misdeclared expenditure on his foreign travels.

On Thursday, the CBI filed a case of corruption against Wankhede, intelligence officer Ranjan, dismissed superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, two private persons Kiran Gosavi and Sanvile D’Souza, also known as Sam D’Souza, for allegedly collecting Rs. 50 lakhs out of the total Rs. 25 crores demanded from Shah Rukh Khan in the light of the drug case involving his son Aryan.

The CBI said the suspects in the drug bust case were brought from the cruise liner to the NCB office in Gosavi’s private vehicle. “It appeared that presence of the independent witness around the accused persons was. . . intentionally in such a manner so as to give an impression that Gosavi was an NCB personnel though there were NCB personnel to handle the custody of the accused persons,” the FIR said.

“Gosavi was allowed to be present in the company of accused persons and allowed to come to NCB office after the raid which is against the norms for an independent witness.”

The FIR said Wankhede, in the capacity of immediate supervisory officer, had directed that Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail be taken as independent witnesses in the proceedings and that Vishwa Vijay Singh allow Gosavi to “handle the accused while taking him to NCB office”, thereby allowing Gosavi and others to create a visual impression of escorting/dragging Aryan Khan towards the NCB Mumbai office.

The CBI has searched the premises of the accused officers and their alleged accomplices and collected digital and documentary evidence for examination. CBI has added charges of extortion and criminal conspiracy besides sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR against Sameer Wankhede says that the NCBs vigilance report found that his assets do not justify his acquired asset.

”Further inquiries have also been done in the matters of allegations of criminal misconduct & corrupt practices of Sameer Wankhede and Ashish Ranjan independently, which could not sufficiently justify their acquired assets as per their declared income.” The FIR reads.

The FIR further states that he was not able to explain his foreign visits and expensive watches. ”It has also come to the notice of the Vigilance Branch of NCB that Wankhede has not properly explained his foreign visits and had apparently mis-declared the expenditure on his foreign travels. He has also not declared the source of his foreign visits properly.”

“It was also found that Sameer Wankhede has indulged himself in the sale and purchase of expensive wristwatches with a private entity, Viral Rajan, without intimating the department (present or parent).” The FIR reads further.

In the FIR it was also revealed that Wankhede gave free hand to panch witnesses K P Gosavi to create an image that he is an NCB official and he took a selfie and recorded Aryan Khan's voice to extort money which was initially Rs. 25 crores and later it was settled for Rs. 18 crores of which Rs. 50 lakhs was taken by Gosavi but it was later returned.

“The inquiry conducted by SET has further revealed that the accused persons were brought to the NCB office in a private vehicle of the independent witness K P Gosavi. It appeared that the presence of the independent witness K P Gosavi around accused persons was created intentionally in such a manner so as to give an impression that K P Gosavi was an NCB personnel even though there was NCB personnel to handle the custody of the accused persons.” The FIR says. 

According to CBI, the independent witness K P Gosavi was allowed to be present in the company of accused persons and even allowed to come to the NCB office after the raid which is against the norms for an independent witness. In this manner, K P Gosavi took the freedom and-clicked selfies and recorded the voice note of an accused.

The FIR further added, was this position that allowed K P Gosavi and his aide Sanvile D'Souza amongst others to enter into the conspiracy to extort an amount of Rs. 25 crores from the family members of the alleged 'accused', Aryan Khan by threatening them of the accusation of offences of possession of Narcotics substances. This amount was finally settled for Rs.18 crores. A token amount of Rs. 50 lakhs, bribe money was also taken by K P Gosavi and his aide Sanvile D'Souza but later a part of the bribe money was returned back by them.

“Sameer Wankhede, in the capacity of the immediate supervisory officer, had directed to take KP Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail as the independent witness in the proceedings against the accused and directed  VV Singh to let K P Gosavi handle the accused while taking him to NCB Office thereby allowing freehand to K P Gosavi and others in order to create such a visual impression of KP Gosavi having the custody of the accused and escorting/dragging him towards NCB Mumbai office,” says the CBI FIR against Wankhede.

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The FIR filed by the CBI against Sameer Wankhede says the NCB’s vigilance report found that his assets do not justify his declared income. The investigating agency has summoned Wankhede to its headquarters in New Delhi for further questioning on  May 18.

According to the CBI’s First Information Report (FIR), independently conducted inquiries into the allegations of criminal misconduct and corruption by Sameer Wankhede and Ashish Ranjan Prasad could not sufficiently justify their acquired assets as per their declared income. The CBI has summoned Wankhede to its headquarters in New Delhi for questioning on Thursday (May 18).

The CBI registered an FIR against former NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, then superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh, then NCB intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan Prasad, K P Gosavi, Sanvile D’souza and other unknown persons on May 11 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The complaint in the case was filed by the superintendent of the vigilance department at the NCB headquarters.

The FIR states that Wankhede was not able to justify his foreign visits and expensive watches. “Wankhede has not properly explained his foreign visits and apparently mis-declared the expenditure of his foreign travels. He has also not declared the source of his foreign visits properly,” the FIR reads. The FIR further mentions that Wankhede indulged in the sale and purchase of expensive wristwatches with a private entity—Viral Rajan—without intimating the department.

However, a major part of the FIR deals with the alleged improper investigation and alleged extortion by Wankhede, in connivance with NCB officials and private persons. The CBI alleged that the accused, at the directions of Wankhede, had extorted an amount of around Rs. 25 crores from the family members of those accused in the Aryan Khan drugs case by threatening to charge them with possession of narcotic substances.

The FIR mentions that many other persons—except for the 10 accused including Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant—whose names were available with NCB officials as suspected persons, were not documented. A few persons who were suspects were even allowed to leave without any documentation being done.

The FIR mentions that a person named Siddharth Shah was let off by NCB officials despite there being evidence against him. “Shah who had allegedly supplied charas to Arbaaz Merchant was also allowed to walk free by NCB Mumbai officials despite admitting to selling charas to Merchant and incriminating chats that showed he himself was consuming drugs. The investigation also revealed that the names of certain suspects were dropped from the first information note (I-note) and the names of certain other accused were included subsequently through modification to suit the proceeding,” the FIR said. The initial I-note contained 27 names while the modified one contained only 10 names.

The accused nabbed in the Cordelia Cruise case were brought to the NCB office in a private vehicle belonging to K P Gosavi—a private person and independent witness in the case. The presence of Gosavi, despite the presence of other NCB personnel to handle the accused, created an impression that he was an NCB officer. Gosavi was allowed to be with the accused and also allowed into the NCB office after the raid which is against the norms for an independent witness.

“Gosavi clicked selfies and recorded voice notes of an accused,” the FIR reads. According to the report, Wankhede had directed that Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail be taken along as witnesses in the proceedings. He allegedly directed Vishwa Vijay Singh to let Gosavi handle the accused in order to create an impression that he has their custody.