Aryan Khan gets clean chit: Action to be taken against ex-NCB official Sameer Wankhede, say sources

Mumbai: After the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, in the 'drugs on cruise' case, sources say that action against Sameer Wankhede, ex-NCB official, is expected. According to news agency ANI, sources have said, "It's learnt that the government has asked competent authority to take appropriate action against ex-NCB official Sameer Wankhede for his shoddy investigation into Aryan Khan drugs haul case. The government has already taken action in the case of Sameer Wankhede's fake caste certificate case."

The NCB on Friday gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan in the October 2021 'drugs on cruise' case in which he was arrested last year. Officials of the NCB, which filed its chargesheet in a Mumbai court, said Aryan Khan and five others had not been named due to "lack of sufficient evidence". Commenting on the case, NCB chief SN Pradhan said, "The principle of preponderance and probability is not applicable to NDPS Act. There should be beyond a reasonable doubt, we did not find such evidence." He added, "There should be physical corroboration of WhatsApp chat. Courts have clarified that WhatsApp chat, in itself, holds no value. You can talk about anything on WhatsApp but if not corroborated with physical evidence, it's not complete evidence."

Meanwhile, the case took a political turn with the ruling NCP in Maharashtra on Friday (May 26) asking, post the judgemeny, who would be held responsible for the trauma Aryan Khan suffered. It also said that the then zonal director of the NCB, Sameer Wankhede, was answerable to the people of this country. Ally Congress alleged that the entire case was part of a "larger conspiracy" to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, in which it shares power with the Shiv Sena and NCP.

Asserting that its Special Investigation Team (SIT) carried out its probe in an "objective manner", the federal anti-drugs agency said in a statement in Delhi that "the touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied". Reacting to the development, NCP spokesman Clyde Crasto said, "If Aryan Khan was clean, why was he tainted? What was the motive? Who will be held responsible for the trauma this young man suffered? Many questions arise."

NCP's chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said the NCB giving a clean chit to Aryan Khan proves that Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik was right when he had said that the case was fake. Malik had criticised the way raids were conducted and witnesses identified, he said.

Aryan Khan was arrested in the case by the NCB on October 3 last year and released from jail later that month after being granted bail. An NCB team led by Wankhede had conducted a raid on the cruise ship, after which 20 persons, including Aryan, were arrested. 
 

(With inputs from Agencies)