A day after NCB Deputy Director General (DDG) northern region Gyaneshwar Singh said zonal chief Sameer Wankhede will continue to be the investigating officer in the drugs seizure case involving Aryan Khan until ‘substantial information’ of alleged extortion is found against him, Singh clarified stating Wankhede is not the investigating officer and was supervising the case.
“Let me clarify that Sameer Wankhede is not the investigating officer. He was supervising the case. There is the DDG above him and the DG is above the DDG. So in that chain, he is supervising. VV Singh is the investigating officer. After we submit our report, on the basis of that, DG will decide the next course of action,” he was quoted as saying by India Today.
Regarding NCB’s affidavit that notes Shah Rukh Khan’s team, including his manager, Pooja Dadlani, as “influencing witnesses”, he said, several witnesses have come up and the matter will be cleared after investigation.
A five-member vigilance probe team, which landed in Mumbai on Wednesday, began its probe and collected some documents and recordings NCB office at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai.
Singh, who is heading the departmental probe into the allegations of extortion, said “The team today collected crucial documents of the case from NCB zonal office and as part of the investigation, we recorded the statement of Wankhede,” Singh had said. “During the four-and-a-half-hour-long recording of the statement, Wankhede has put many things before the team and we will collect a few more documents from him in coming days and if required we will get more information from him,” he said.
Asked whether Wankhede will continue to supervise the investigation into the cruise drugs case, Singh said, “Let the investigation go ahead, if I have something concrete then only I will be able to give report to my DG.”
Wankhede also moved the Bombay High Court on Thursday, seeking interim protection from arrest or any coercive action against him. He sought an urgent hearing of his plea challenging the Mumbai police’s decision to form a four-member team to investigate the allegations of extortion and corruption against him, in the aftermath of the cruise drugs case
The Maharashtra government initially opposed the plea but subsequently, chief public prosecutor Aruna Pai assured the court that it will give prior notice of arrest to Wankhede.
“We assure the court that three working days’ notice will be given (to Wankhede) before arrest by Mumbai Police,” Pai said. The HC disposed of the plea following the state government’s statement.
(With inputs from PTI)
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