Mumbai: Sameer Wankhede, a former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer under probe for extortion and bribery, told the Bombay High Court that a special enquiry team (SET) sought to give a clean chit to Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, by “suppressing” information and evidence in the October 2021 Coredelia drug bust case.

Wankhede said this during the hearing of his petition to quash an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him for allegedly extorting money to let Aryan Khan off. The SET set up by NCB had alleged that Wankhede added Aryan Khan and a friend Arbaaz Merchant's names in the case at the last minute. Eventually, after his arrest, the NCB dropped all charges against Aryan.

Wankhede said, “The entire endeavour of the SET was to create many doubts regarding the investigation of the Cordelia Cruise case to meet their ultimate motive of giving Aryan Khan a clean chit and be able to justify the same.” Wankhede said it was one of the rarest cases of high-handedness by the agencies to make him a scapegoat.

The high court has posted the matter for hearing on June 23. The CBI has sought recall of the interim protection given by the HC in May to Wankhede and dismissal of his quashing plea against its FIR saying the probe is at an initial stage.

Wankhede also denied allegations of not maintaining documentation on the seizure of a phone from Aryan and said SET was making a frivolous observation to justify its clean chit to the youth. He called it “nothing but a figment of imagination of SET chairman…”

He claimed procedures were followed with Khan voluntarily handing over his phone for a probe. Regarding the source of money for his repeated foreign trips and a Rolex watch, Wankhede said his family paid for them. He said allegations were being made to humiliate him and create a bad public image.

Wankhede said the inquiry by SET—set up on October 25, 2021--was itself in violation of section 17A (need of a prior sanction) of the Prevention of Corruption Act when allegations are against a public servant. Wankhede also denied that an intelligence information report was changed to target certain individuals. The allegations are ill-founded and the finding by the SET was made “merely to harass honest officers of NCB.’’ The note, he said, contained 10 names including Aryan Khan and some unknown persons.

On a selfie taken by an independent witness with Aryan Khan in the NCB office, Wankhede said it was taken without the consent of any NCB officer and was humanly impossible for him to keep an eye on the actions of panchas (witnesses).